Anointing the Choir Boy

 
The first shot I ever got of Ron "Choir Boy" Stallings was back in April as he was getting body-slammed into the floor by my friend Reshad Woods. The impact knocked him out and, when the ref failed to stop the fight, Reshad went back and punched him in the head just for good measure. It was a pretty fantastic knockout and I believe you can watch the whole thing here (UWC Invasion Fight 1). Shortly after Reshad's arm was raised, Stallings was sent to the hospital.

Unfortunately, my pictures weren't as spectacular. I was trying to take pictures from the cheapo nosebleed section and had a hard time getting the exposure right. The only shot I got is fuzzy and cryptic. You can barely make out Stallings' inverted body as he dangles a few inches above the floor.

Fast forward several months. It was weird being at UWC 4 with my nose pressed up to the cage as Stallings entered. I kept remembering his ragdoll body lying limp on the ground after being picked up and slammed down Rampage Jackson-style. But things were different on this night. He absolutely dominated his opponent Tony Sousa in what I thought was probably the most violent fight of the night. Much of the fight took place pressed up against my side of the cage, so I had the very bizarre experience of looking up and seeing Stallings towering over me, seemingly looking down at me. Every time he raised his fists I felt sure they would land on my face, but instead they found their target in Tony Sousa. I heard every grunt, every gutteral growl, and the smack of every fist as it connected with Sousa's flesh just a few inches from my face. Many times I had to resist the very real temptation to put my own hands up, so close was the fight to my position. (ok, ok, technically, they were up because I was shooting the event, but you get my drift?)

As an aside, let me just say that it is a very odd experience to be so close to a fight and not go into defensive mode. This alone was the singular weirdest moment of the whole night- to stop for a moment and reflect on the fact that I'm coldly taking pictures while a man is getting beaten up 3 inches from my lens. Granted, both men chose to enter the cage, but during the whole fight I just had a really uneasy, almost voyeuristic feeling. It wasn't so much that I felt bad for Sousa; no, I felt uncomfortable with the proximity of the situation. If somebody's throwing punches that close to me, it's "fight or flight" that kicks in, not "photography."

Anyway, rather than post a shot of Sousa getting mauled by the Choir Boy, I thought I'd go with a shot that was more... well, Choir Boy-ish. Contrary to the fight, Stallings' 1-minute rest was spent sitting quietly, almost in reflection. Here, he almost looks tired (if he was, he didn't show it during the fight). You can't tell that he's winning just by looking at him. Lloyd Irvin is tending to him, re-applying Vaseline to his forehead, giving him sage wisdom. After this picture was taken, Stallings switched on once again,devastating Sousa and knocking him out 1 minute into the 2nd round.