Joe Brown's life was ruled by two passions - sculpture and boxing. He was fortunate to have been able to spend his life immersed in both. From 1937-1962, he coached boxing at Princeton University and was instrumental in regulating college boxing as competitive sport. In 1939, he also became Resident Fellow of Sculpture on the Creative Arts program, a position which he held until 1962 when he became a full Professor of Art. In 1977, he retired from teaching but continued to sculpt professionally.

Like his teacher R. Tait McKenzie, Brown chose athletes as the subject of most of his sculpture, focusing on the anatomy of the body at work. The present bronze is from a series of bronzes of boxers entitled Counterpunch modeled in the late 1940's. A lifetime cast, it is number 8 from a proposed edition of 45. It is unlikely that the edition will be completed.