Brian Finke - Backyard Fights

As some of you know, I’ve been shooting in a boxing gym in my Boston neighborhood for over a decade. I know first-hand how difficult it is to shoot in and around a boxing environment.
In Brian Finke’s new book “Backyard Fights”, he documents the people and the culture of backyard boxing in rural Virginia. Scarface, in the introduction to the book, states “When I started Street Beefs, it was just an idea - let's just give these guys who have a dispute someplace to solve it where it's regulated or they won't severely hurt each other or go to jail. And it just has evolved, and it's grown. It graduated to people just liking to be around because we train all the time, we hang out and people wanted to be a part of the family-club atmosphere. So, people just wanted to fight for sport. Street Beefs now is like a club. And it's a club where we let anybody join. The motto is "Guns Down, Gloves Up." You don't go outta here pulling weapons on people. You don't go out jumping people, pulling knives, any of that-you fight with honor. You don't street fight. If there's any way you could avoid it, you do not street fight, you bring it here. You exercise regularly. You treat your friends well and have a good personality in the group.”