I've always wanted to paint a fight scene of sorts, I don't know why, but several images have just been in my head for a while now. I've shared this thought with friends online whenever I come across videos of boxers, wrestlers, or any fighting sport.

While fight scenes tend to seem explosive, I wanted to see if I could capture a "peaceful violent scene", a calm scene. "The calm before the storm". This is a segue from my other paintings, there is no strong poetic theme, nothing to squint and look out for, no connection (yet), just a painting of two knackered boxers.

In this painting, you have two boxers, both dark-skinned, with light bouncing off their body at different spots and angles. The boxer on the right wears blue shorts, with blue gloves, while the one on the right-hand side of the viewer dons white shorts, with red gloves.

Their stance is quite gentle and passive, as though about to dance, but wary of a punch.

"The Dance."
Pascal Okafor, 2023