"""As if seen from about the third row in a darkened arena around a boxing ring, two bare chested men, one with cream-white skin and the other with brown skin, lock arms in a boxing match in this horizontal painting. The brushstrokes are loose and visible throughout, making some details difficult to distinguish. The boxer on the left has light skin with a greenish cast, and wears drooping, forest green trunks and black shoes. He leans back on his bent right leg, closer to us, and tilts his face upwards. His mouth gapes open and his nose, chin, and neck are smeared with scarlet red, suggesting blood. His chest, arms, and legs are sinewy and muscular. His right arm is raised or pulled up overhead by the boxer to our right. Wearing dark briefs, the second boxer hunches over with head lowered toward the other man's shoulder. He surges forward onto his deeply bent left knee, closer to us, pushing powerfully off his back leg. His face is lost in shadow and his body has less detail than his opponent, though his arching back catches the light, which glints off his spine, ribs, and muscles of the shoulder. The men's bodies nearly span the height of the canvas. The black ropes of the ring pass in front of and behind the boxers and the space around the ring in the top half of the painting is nearly black. Heads and faces of the spectators in the first few rows are lit by the main event and are crowded into the bottom third of the painting. Two spectators on our far left have climbed up and lean on and through the ropes, their mouths open. The crowd, which appears to be all lighter-skinned men and boys, are painted loosely but their mouths widen in toothy grins or gape in awe or disappointment. The artist signed the work in yellow letters against black in the lower right corner: """"Geo Bellows."""""""
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