Nowadays combat sports glorify the explosive and flashy aspect of violence, the collective vision of a multifaceted and noble discipline such as boxing is reduced to a fragment that highlights the violent and controversial aspect of this sport. In youth women’s boxing a match lasts three rounds of two minutes each, in those lightning-fast six minutes a corollary of emotions is condensed that arise from the first months of training to culminate with the ringing of the bell. Thorns of roses wants to dig into what is hidden behind a match. Moving away from a purely male stereotype, the project seeks to achieve a more authentic aspect of the figure of the “fighter”.

My research has mainly taken place in national and international tournaments in Ireland Italy and Sweden. I followed Cecilia Ponari’s boxing career, Italian vice-champion youth 50kg, accompanying her to most of her sporting events to understand the full emotional range of life as a young female professional boxer and not limit myself to the moment of the match. The shots portray the invisible moments that form this sporting reality: a universe made up of screams and whispers, effort and tears, blows and hugs.