In Cienfuegos, Cuba, the former champion José Álamo Utría’s community boxing gym takes the poorest children and puts them into the ring — and some make it to the top. Documenting their journey in a series of photographs and in his own words is James Clifford Kent, a London-based photographer:
A frente frío (cold front) was hitting as I arrived in the southern port city of Cienfuegos. Local fishermen were sitting around repairing nets and blaming the bad weather for making their fish disappear. Cienfuegos, the “Pearl of the South”, is famous for its maritime culture. It’s also known for producing world-class boxers on an island where many fighters, such as Teófilo Stevenson and Félix Savón, have become legends. Cuban boxing is synonymous with the
