Photographer Christaan Felber stands in front of print outs from his recent project, “Boxeo Clasico,” a photo series of professional and amateur boxers training at the Zaragoza Boxing Gym on Broadway. — Photo By Diego Cupolo

Some of you have seen it and, perhaps, even wondered about it while waiting for the J train. The silhouettes of men fervently punching heavy bags, teenagers slicing air with white-taped knuckles. Anyone can peer through the windows of the Zaragoza Boxing Gym from the Myrtle-Broadway platform, but few have entered, let alone with a camera in hand.

Yet that’s exactly what the insatiably curious photographer Christaan Felber started doing in June, creating a riveting collection of action shots and vibrant portraits he calls Boxeo Clasico. The project not only demanded countless visits to Zaragoza, but Felber had to befriend the boxers and trainers to make them comfortable with the camera.

	Boxeo Clasico. Click to see more.

"My dad was an amateur boxer so I grew up around the sport," he said. "When I started looking for projects in this area the boxing gym was one of the first places I went to and I just loved the mood and stripped-down atmosphere in there."

He didn’t know what to expect the first time he brought his equipment to the gym, but after getting to know the boxers, Felber began following crew all the way up to the Bronx to shoot open-air street tournaments.

In total, four cameras were used for the project: a Hasselblad 500c, a Canon EOS 500n, a Mamiya RZ67 for portraits, and the simple Yashica T4 for quick snapshots. The results are stunning. Flipping through Felber’s photographs, one can almost smell the musty gym air and sweat-drenched leather gloves.

One of the reasons Felber chose this subject is that he feels classical boxing is becoming a dying art form as more "extreme" fighting sports like UFC and professional wrestling gain popularity. In trying to capture the true nature of the sport, Felber focused on the intensive training regimens the boxers endure before fights.

"I think what’s more interesting is what happens outside the ring," Felber said. "Seeing them train for months and months and months and then seeing it all culminate into nine minutes of fighting. It’s incredibly powerful."

Now Felber is looking to showcase his work in a local gallery and, in the meantime, has been printing out his best shots and giving them to the Zaragosa boxers. The lead gym trainer, whom everyone simply calls "Wilson," said in a phone conversation that he enjoyed having Felber come by and shoot his guys.

"He was very professional about it and everyone liked having him around," Wilson said before abruptly yelling at his trainees: "Hey! Guys! Not too hard. What did I just tell you?!"

He then picked up the phone again and said:

"I’m sorry, can we talk another time, these guys are trying to kill each other here and they didn’t even have their breakfast today."

Visit ChristaanFelber.com for more boxing photos and other peculiar projects.