A former Bonnyville resident is preparing himself for the fight of his life, working his way to a possible Canadian Cruiserweight Championship match in September after making a name for himself on the professional boxing circuit.
Thirty-three-year-old Rob Nichols, who grew up and lived in Bonnyville before moving to Edmonton in 2002, is in line to fight for a cruiserweight title after impressing promoters with his no-nonsense style in the heavyweight division.
Since bursting onto the professional scene in November 2008, Nichols has gone on to fight some of the biggest and toughest fighters in the province and holds an overall record of six wins and one loss by judges' decision, leading many to believe he has what it takes to fight for a title.
It all started for Nichols back in 1997, after graduating from Bonnyville Centralized High School, he went on to work for Imperial Oil's Cold Lake Operations. It was there he met the son of local boxing coach Ray Kahanyshyn, who, along with fellow coach Ray Dumais, introduced him to and gave him his first taste of the sport of boxing.
“I remember back when I graduated from high school, I just sort of felt like my life wasn't really going anywhere. At this point I weighed probably 250 pounds and decided I had to do something to get into shape, so started the boxing thing and enjoyed it so much that I stuck with it – I lost 50 pounds in twelve months,” Nichols said.
Growing up in a farming family, Nichols knew all about hard work and used the strong work ethic that was drilled into him from a young age to his advantage while he worked on improving his boxing skills.
Nichols said it helped that he had a little bit of a background watching boxing growing up, as both his grandfather and his father were avid followers of the sport. After his grandfather passed away in 1999, he said that was enough inspiration for him to carry on improving his skills in the ring.
“Even before I started training and taking boxing seriously, I was a bit of a fan as I used to watch events with my grandpa, then when he passed away that kind of got me into thinking this would be something he'd want me to pursue. Then my dad started to come and watch too so I kept up with it and eventually realized I liked it a lot more than I thought I did.”
From there, Nichols went on to fight as an amateur for a number of years before closing the book altogether in 2002 to concentrate on his studies in Edmonton. During that time, his father also passed away and so after earning his diploma in massage therapy, Nichols decided to start up again, with even more inspiration than before.
“I have to admit, when I was at school I really missed boxing,” Nichols said. “I got to thinking how much my grandpa enjoyed boxing, and how much my dad liked watching me box, so that gave me all the inspiration I needed to keep up with it.”
As an amateur, Nichols held a record of nine wins and one loss, and his momentum didn't stop as he moved onto the professional scene in 2008, winning his first two fights before dropping his third by a split decision.
“My third fight, I fought a guy called Alston Brown and the first punch he landed on me caught my ear – it ended up bursting my ear drum and that screwed up my equilibrium and balance, so that was a tough one to take,” Nichols said.
From there, Nichols took another three-year hiatus to focus on starting a family with his wife and opening a business of his own before taking to the ring again in early 2012.
Since returning, Nichols has recorded four convincing wins, including a knockout victory in his last fight against the much fancied, much larger Jarred Kilkenny.
At that point, Nichols said people sat up and took notice of him, realizing he perhaps had the potential to fight the big fights.
“I think that last fight against Jarred Kilkenny is probably the highlight of my career so far because he had a lot of potential to hurt me,” Nichols said. “He had a lot of experience fighting guys in both MMA and boxing, but my coach Sterling Craig and myself came up with a solid game-plan, studying this guy's previous fights and we ended up winning, so it was worth it.”
Nichols said, “After that last fight with Kilkenny, I sort of proved to everyone that I can take on the challenge of the big guys and I can win, so I've got nothing left to prove in that sense anymore.
“I'll be focusing on the cruiserweight division from now on, where hopefully I'll be receiving a title shot. I realize that I'm not getting any younger so I have to make a move now – this is typically a young man's game. I'm fortunate that I take care of myself.”
Nichols said since he had been so approachable and easy to handle for promoters earlier in his career, they were more than happy to present him with an opportunity to fight for a national championship and now it is up to him to rise to the challenge and see if he has what it takes to take that next step.
“I'm determined to go for this,” Nichols said. “Growing up with my grandpa and my dad gave me the work ethic I need to push on and keep going. Where I've come from and who I've been growing up has put me where I am today. If I can get this title I'd be very much happy with that.”
But the ball doesn't stop there for Nichols, as he said he'd like to see what else he could accomplish in his career before calling it a day.
“Sure, winning this cruiserweight championship would be fantastic, but the way the professional circuit is in Canada, there are various organizations, all with their own individual championships, so the chance to unify a couple titles would be good,” Nichols explained. “I know I said I don't want to fight heavyweight anymore, but if I could potentially hold two different titles in two different weight classes, who can say they've ever done that? Then of course, fighting internationally and in the States would be an awesome experience.”
Nichols talked about giving back to the sport after it gave so much to him. “I know this is all going to end someday, so perhaps if I win a title, the notoriety that could give me would enable me to give back a little to the amateur scene,” Nichols said. “I'd also like to start a boxing gym to go alongside the gym I own at the moment so that I can train people and have an amateur team of my own. It's just a way of giving back to the youth – if I can give back like my coaches back home in Bonnyville gave back, it would sort of come full circle.”
