CHAMPIONS: an immersive boxing art experience; T.K.O.O. launch endorsed by the World Boxing Council and WBC Cares, July 8, New York

The fine art and boxing worlds are merging to create CHAMPIONS, a fundraiser exhibition at gleason's gym in brooklyn, New York to support retired boxers. brought to you by T.K.O.O x OCLESSE, in association with the world boxing council, Jose Sulaiman Charity Boxer’s Fund and WBC Cares.

The event will take place July 8th, from 5-6pm (media only), 6-10pm (guest list) Gleason’s Gym: 130 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY.

Calling boxing professionals and enthusiasts, art industry experts and collectors to join us at Gleason’s Gym with Legendary Champions on July 8th from 5-6pm for the media, 6-10 pm for all guests to celebrate the Champions of Boxing through fine art and performance. Thus far, we have had a number of Champions confirm they will be attending as Guests of Honour: Iran Barkley, Donny Lalonde, Heather Hardy, Doug De Witt, Michael Olajide, Holt McCallany, Vinny Paz, Tim Witherspoon and Junior Jones. The Champions list continues to expand.

“The ancient sport of boxing - it was in Greece’s Olympic Games in 688 BC - is more resonant with myth and magic than any other sport, however popular, and this powers the art.” - Anthony Haden-Guest

Founded by a partnership between Champion father and artist daughter, Donny and Bailey Lalonde, supported by Dylan, Christi and family, T.K.O.O. (Taking Kare of Our Own) is dedicated to creating tangible solutions for Champions to sustain healthy, wealthy and purposeful lives during and after their boxing careers. Powered by art, the exhibition features artist Mambu Bayoh who will be creating a series of fine art portraits of some of the greatest legends in boxing history. The curation, by Anthony Haden-Guest and Bailey Lalonde, assisted by Anastasiia Ageeva and Amanda Baldi will include a selection of multimedia boxing art from a range of New York based and international artists, portraying the champions. Live music will be facilitated by Mark Whitfield, Ian Forde, JoDN and Camille Mitchell.

Mambu Bayoh is a Sierra Leonean/Liberian born, New York City based photographer known for his versatility in capturing portraits; his works balance his visual voice with a narrative connecting the audience and the subject. His work has been exhibited internationally, acquired by collectors worldwide and is in the MoMA permanent collection. Other artists to be featured include Layla Love, Harry Benson, David "MrStarCity" White, Francesco Bertola, Pepe Sulaiman, Shraddha Borawake, Rose Billings, Trevor Mansfield, Julia Morrison, Cosmo Mullican, Brandon Tellez, Bailey Lalonde, Tony Nasa, Jeaninne Intriago, Todd Monaghan, Linus Coraggio and more; the selection of artists continues to expand. There will also be a selection of works by some of the most legendary artists who have portrayed boxing, such as Leroy Neiman, who are in Gleason's private collection; not to be sold or auctioned. There will be a live performance by Anthony Haden-Guest and David Leslie, in the ring.

In association with the WBC and WBC Cares, 30% of sales proceeds from the evening will be donated to the Jose Sulaiman WBC Boxer’s Fund to assist fighters in need of financial support; another 30% will be split amongst "Our Champions" in attendance as Guests of Honour; this includes residual income generated from sales of limited edition prints of each work. In alignment with the WBC Clean Boxing Program, we have partnered with local healthy food and beverage suppliers as well as wellness practitioners such as Tracie Martyn, Sacred Silence Acupuncture and Michael Olajide; the event will be alcohol-free. Stuart Watts PR of London has sponsored this event with his services to help us reach as many people around the world with this initiative to help fighters live a high quality of life.

"Boxing is in the thread of everything" - Bruce Silverglade, Gleason's Gym

This exhibition is created in collaboration with OCLESSE, a global invite-only network bringing together artists, interior designers and champions of luxury spaces worldwide to enrich environments with fine artworks. If you’d like to learn more about OCLESSE please email hello@oclesse.com

An evening of VIP Legends, world renowned fine art, and live performances - this is set to be an unforgettable event. Please note we have limited capacity so our guest list is by invite or application only. If you are interested in attending and/or receiving a sneak peak catalogue in advance of the exhibition, please use the form https://www.oclesse.com/shows/champions - or email hello@oclesse.com to RSVP manually if the link is not an option for you.