Bonnyville-native Rob Nichols is in the midst of preparing for the biggest fight of his career, a match against Didier Bence, the third best boxer in Canada.
“He will be tough. He is a former Pan-Am Games medal winner. He is kind of a different pedigree than I am,” said Nichols. “His ring experience will definitely test me, but I have the will and the determination to stand in their with anybody. I don't think he is going to hurt me any worse than any other guy.”
Nichols and Bence are set to meet in a Canadian Cruiserweight bout on Aug. 30 in Montreal. The fight comes about a month after Nichols' last fight on July 18, in Nanaimo, BC – a heavyweight fight, which he feels gave him the opportunity to go to Montreal.
Sitting sixth among Canadian boxers, the 6-foot, 220 to 250 pound Nichols stepped into the ring against Shane Andreesen, the fifth-ranked fighter, for the first six-round bout of his career.
“I was fighting in the guy's (hometown) and we waged war on each other. We exchanged a lot of heavy blows,” said Nichols, on the fight that ended in a majority draw. “He left pretty ugly. I had a little bit of a black eye. He had a broken hand and his eyes were all swollen. He went to the hospital after and I went for a beer.”
Of the three judges to score the fight, only one gave the decision to Nichols, scoring it 4-2. The other two judges scored the fight a 3-3 draw. His career record now stands at six wins, a loss by judges' decision and a draw.
“As far as the response I got from the promoter, the match maker and even from (Andreesen's) friends at the after party, they all thought I won the fight,” said Nichols.
The fight was a great bounce back for Nichols after having to take more than a year off from boxing, as he was unable to find a fight.
He was supposed to get his shot back in September of 2013, before his opponent pulled out days before the scheduled weigh-in. A replacement fighter could not be found, which Nichols feels “stalled (his) progress and momentum.”
After taking several fights in the heavyweight class, Nichols plans to drop back down to 200 pounds and continue his career in the cruiserweight class.
“We will be going hard with a lot of conditioning. To get the weight down it is really going to be focusing on nutrition and keeping the intensity high,” said Nichols, who plans to start training hard for his upcoming bout and “polish up on” the technical aspects of boxing.
At 34-years-old, Nichols knows time is against him and he may not have many more years to take a shot at a Canadian Boxing Championship. But for the time being, it is still his number one goal.
“I've been going where I'll get a max of three fights a year,” said Nichols. “I'd like to get more; especially at this point in my career. I've got to make moves and try and get something done.”
Nichols recently moved back to the region and is now living near Fort Kent. He grew up and lived in Bonnyville before moving to Edmonton in 2002. He says eventually he would like to give back to boxing and sees coaching in his future.
“I'd like to eventually have more time to work with kids and do some coaching and come back full circle to what the coaches gave me. I have a few goals to get to first but I see it down the road,” said Nichols.
It was back in 1997, at the KA Boxing Club in Bonnyville, where a young Nichols got his start. 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 I started the boxing thing and enjoyed it so much that I stuck with it – I lost 50 pounds in 12 months,” Nichols said.
He still makes trips back to the club and spars with the local up-and-coming boxers.
“It is like a time warp down there. Nothing has changed. The same guys are doing the same things. The place is exactly the same,” said Nichols, who tossed around ideas about possibly helping the club promote boxing in the region one day.
“I'd love to be able to work something out with the club and do a fundraiser to promote boxing in the area and to try and get myself to be a part of coaching and training kids,” said Nichols. “Hockey isn't everything and soccer is not either. I think boxing has a lot to offer.”
As for now, Nichols is focused on a Canadian Championship and standing in his way is third-ranked Didier Bence.
