Sports
Kate Nicholas Has the Biggest Ring in Town
The Ring of Champions Society president is a mom and mentor to many local boxers.
Trainer Miguel Ayala is working with Eric Person on the 17’ x 17’ canvas at the as matriarch Kate Nicholas shows a visitor around the gym on an unusually quiet evening.
The relative tranquility is the result of boxing director Paul Cichon’s trip to Rhode Island with many of his 25 boxers, but the sound of leather gloves tapping sparring mitts under bright lights was steady and methodic.
“Doesn’t every woman want a big ring?” Nicholas asked with a wave in the direction of the impressive structure. “Well I’ve got the biggest.”
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Last May, after five years traveling from gym to gym, the Ring of Champions, or R.O.C.S., found a home in an old warehouse at 52 Main St. The space was vacant and needed a lot of work. Most warehouses don’t come with a boxing ring, so Nicholas took a deep breath and purchased one of championship quality for Cichon and the boys to train in style.
The ring was custom made to fit the space and was brought in from Ohio on an 18-wheeler that snarled traffic in the north end of town on delivery day. “Not a lot of boxing rings are brought into town,” Nicholas noted. Cichon, along with Eric Person, Sr. and Tim Neumyer built the wood frame base where the ring sits and history is now made.
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Nicholas’ official title is president, but she wears many hats – marketing director, hopusekeeper, mom to many.
She was drawn to the sport four years ago when looking for an outlet to keep her youngest son Chris Nicholas occupied. She points out that, “few guys can say their mother got them into boxing.” Nicholas recognized the good work Cichon was doing, stayed on to help and was instrumental in putting the deal together for the new home.
“It was a combination of my name and Kate’s know-how,” the well-know Cichon said, emphasizing her niche for carving through the administrative details as if she were one of his fighters working over an opponent. “She did a lot of leg work to get it going.”
The roles roles are clearly defined, however. “I don’t tell him how to coach and he doesn’t want to know about the thing that I do. That’s why it works,” Nicholas said.
The ROCS program has enjoyed success on a national level – Mikey Williams and Person will compete in National Silver Gloves Tournament in Independence, MO, from February 1-4. But the intangibles cannot be measured with a standing ten-count. Many of the kids who show up at their door are at risk, and the hours they spend training and laughing at the gym are sacred.
And Nicholas, a Manchester resident with a background in real estate law, is working with school superintendents in both East Hartford and Manchester on an enrichment program and recently introduced a “book club” element to the training routine. Together, they read and discuss sport related novels such as The Hunger Game and The Contender.
“You try to appeal to intellect in boxing to develop literacy and comprehension,” Nicholas said. “This sport is called the sweet science for a reason. It’s a very intelligent sport when you break it down.”
As the tour continued, Nicholas spoke of expansion plans for the space that according to town lore, once housed a cracker factory. There is talk of knocking down walls, bringing the sturdy - and perhaps storied - hardwood floors back to life and adding a second ring. Nicholas tenses up temporarily and shakes her head from side to side at the thought of another big-ticket purchase, but then her good-Irish-mom smile returns: “you never say never…I love my boys.”
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