Erin Lefevre

"There was once a man who went to a guru because he wanted to be great. The guru told the man to meet him at the beach the next day wearing shorts. The man showed up the next day all dressed up. The guru told the man to go walk into the water. Confused, the man walked into the water and the guru followed him. The guru grabbed the man by the head and held him underwater until he almost passed out. He pulled the man out of the water and asked him what was the first word that came to his mind. The man replied, 'air.' The guru told this man that the secret to greatness is wanting something more than you wanted air in that moment. That story kept playing through my mind because I want my dream more than I want the air that I breathe.”

The first time I met Casey Morton, I photographed one of her training sessions at World Class Boxing Gym in San Francisco, CA. Within the hour I spent photographing Casey, I became captivated by her passion for life and boxing. Growing up as an at-risk teen in Hawaii, Casey managed to flee her environment to pursue a more positive lifestyle. Casey travelled from state-to-state and put herself through college while working as a motivational speaker for at-risk teenagers, and then she finally found her love for the sport of boxing. For an entire year, Casey allowed me to photograph her journey to becoming a professional female boxer. Her decision to pursue boxing as a professional career shows that it is a long, solitary road to success. Being a woman trying to succeed in a man's sport means Casey has to work twice as hard as all of her male peers and is confronted with double the dilemmas, doubts, and hardships. Casey’s story proves that anyone can accomplish their dreams, making Casey a champion both inside and outside of the ring.