High above the Friday Night Fights Boxing Gym in New Orleans, just minutes from the night's first round, boxer Matravious Tims is in the zone.
Timms, fresh from a quiet meditation on the concrete, sits motionless as his coach wraps tape around his knuckles.
But club owner Mike Tata is ready to put on a show for people.
“What do you mean move this downstairs?” he interjected. “When we do this on the steps by the ring, the crowd loves it. It's always better when the crowd sees it.”
This is the beauty of Friday Night Fight boxing matches. A match is in one sense a serious sporting event, and in a larger part a performance.
This extravagant quarterly show features everything from old boxing enthusiasts shouting commands at ringside (“There's money in Slidell, look back!'') to college students waving homemade signs. It attracts spectators from all walks of life. Some tourists wandered in from the street after reading about “burlesque shows'' on flyers.
Regardless of the draw, Friday Night Fights are powerful.
Despite severe thunderstorms and flood warnings across New Orleans on Friday, March 8, the gym was packed by the end of the night and as loud as its mastermind, Mike Tata himself. He was entertaining with his drunken energy.
Mike Tata speaks with boxer Matravious Timms from Prichard, Alabama, and his coach Gabriel Dortch. Timms then won the match by unanimous decision.The trainer wraps Tims' hand.Every Friday Night Fight game begins with the national anthem. Veterans will always be able to attend games for free.Timms picks up the ring and sizes up his opponent, Cam Connor of Pearl Boxing Club.Tims lifts his opponent into the air while avoiding attacks.Judges from USA Boxing, the national governing body for Olympic sports, react to particularly violent punches.Lareina Besant prepares to take the stage for a burlesque performance.Performers from the group Acrodite wear their signature latex masks.Acrodite members apply lip gloss before going on stage.Drag queen London Manchester struts to Britney Spears' “Womanizer.”Audience reacts to performance in London Manchester.Tata is standing at ringside, preparing to announce the next round.The women in the audience react to the act of swallowing a sword.Tulane students laugh when their friends volunteer to step into the ring.A Tulane University student holds up a round card while volunteering as a walk-on ring girl.A boxer swallows a punch during a Friday Night Fights boxing match.“What do you get when you cross an Irishman with a Cajun man?” Tata asks the audience. “It was a really good fight.”A competitor is happy after winning a match.Josh Casimir (left) and boxer Sam Tuckcherer wait their turn to enter the ring.The crowd cheered as Tulane University sophomore Sam Touchcherer stepped into the ring for his first fight. Tuscheler ultimately lost to a fellow amateur competitor.London Manchester gathers their belongings backstage after the show.
