Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym.
Hi again everyone. We are back in Havana. During the first Cuba workshop in December 2014 we paid a visit to the famed Rafael Trejo Gimnasio al Aire Libre (Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym).
It’s at 815 Calle de Cuba in Habana Vieja (Old Havana) hidden on a side street with a very unassuming entrance. It’s the oldest and most famous boxing club in Cuba and well known internationally in the boxing world, as I understand it. The gym has produced some of Cuba’s finest boxers over the years, including Felix Savon, Kid Chocolate and the great Teófilo Stevenson (three Olympic gold medals). Our workshop group was permitted to watch (and shoot) the sparring practice. My two trips to Planet Cuba were full of surreal experiences; however, this sure ranked up there as one of the most unusual. We went to a lot of off-the-beaten-track places but I have to say that this got the prize.
Like the set in the previous post of the tobacco despalillo near the village of Viñales, in Pinar del Río province, this set of photos seems to work better in monochrome.
No frills here – the gym’s facilities are very simple, much of the equipment tired and worn. It is a raw place. This is sports training at quite a basic level. The real deal. As far as I could tell, the gym is basically just an open space between two buildings with a sparring ring taking up a good portion of the space and with seating on two sides. Our intrepid workshop director once again came through for us big time, and we were not confined to the stands and instead could roam about for the photography and get some amazing close-ups.
The level of determination and intensity was very high – one could feel it.
Cuba is second only to the United States in boxing medals in Olympic history, and a lot of the Cuban Olympians have trained at Rafael Trejo. Of course, baseball (el béisbol) rules in Cuba, but as I understand it, boxing is hugely popular, too.
What an experience. As I am not really a cigar smoker, I am also not a big boxing fan (except long ago back in the Muhammad Ali era), but, hey, this was special, and it was an extraordinary visit.
The first few shots were taken at the entrance. The younger woman watching the practice must have been a girlfriend or wife. A neighbor also watched the sparring pretty intently from a window in an adjoining house. The rest of the photos are the boxers practicing both in the ring and in the open area by the ring.
I am excited to be able to share this fantastic experience with you.
See you again in a couple of weeks for some more Havana.
Click on (or tap) an image to expand it (and use the arrow to the right on an expanded image to go through the set, if preferred over scrolling down in the post).
