When he was a senior member of the Indian football team, Keith Richison got his first chance to play both sides of the ball during an October 2012 game against University High School. Typically a key defensive player, Richison played on the offensive line at guard. Coach Josh Nicewarner said then that the athlete stepped up – even with a banged up knee – to do his job and helped lead Bridgeport High to a 20-14 win over University.

 

Going on five years later, Richison is still going strong with athletic endeavors and determination – this time in the boxing ring.

 

After doing some extensive training, Richison was a contender at the West Virginia Toughman Contest in Elkins, held March 10.

 

“Elkins went good. I won the first night by a technical knockout and it felt great, but on the last punch, I connected awkwardly – not square. And though I didn’t feel anything at the moment – probably because of the adrenaline rush, but then I started feeling a sharp pain through my hand,” he said. “My trainer was all excited because of my win, but then I told him I had hurt my hand.”

 

As it turned out, Richison had a boxer’s fracture – injured ligaments in the knuckles between his ring and middle fingers.

 

“It was hurting so bad. I went home and took Ibuprofen and when I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t move it. It felt like I had slept on it,” he said.

 

Determined to make the final round, Richison said he worked on it all day, hoping he could get back in the ring.

 

“I was going to give it a shot,” he said. “I had a lot of friends who had come to watch me and I felt confident I had a chance to win. I was in very good shape.”

 

But upon entering the locker room and encountering the last set of doctors who had to OK him for the match, told him he had to withdraw.

 

“A trainer – Ken Wheeler - told me he knew how much I loved boxing and that I wanted to stay with it and fighting with my hand like that could ruin it for me,” he said.

Richison said he wasn’t about to let that happen and that, soon – once getting into a rhythm with his latest job - he will be back to training at Tommy Thomas Boxing in Clarksburg with his mind set on getting in top-top physical condition and ready for the Clarksburg Toughman in January of 2018.

 

Cross said both amateurs and professionals can compete in Toughman and other larger events. Amateurs typically fight three two-minute rounds or a shorter fight of three one-minute rounds. Pros fight three- or four-minute rounds with a minimum of four rounds. It is the decision of the fighter and his trainer as to when he moves up to professional, but once that declaration is made, the boxer cannot go back to amateur.

 

“Under normal circumstances, a lot of guys in our area come up through the Toughman system which enhances your chances of becoming a successful pro if you win a Toughman championship or two or one of the other larger amateur fights,” he said. “You want to build up a nice resume to put on your pro application when it comes time. Naturally you want to have a decent amount of success and experience and be ready – having both the stamina and cardio to fight possibly twice as long.”

 

Richison said he has followed professional boxing since he was a little boy and had aspired to one day give it a shot. But at that time – and throughout his high school years – the aspiration had to take a back seat to football.

 

“Football was always first. From the time I played Midgets when it was football season, I played and when it was offseason, I trained for football,” he said.

 

Once his senior year of Indian football had concluded, he got his first chance in the ring.  At age 18 and while still a BHS student, he competed in the heavyweight division at the West Virginia Toughman in Clarksburg.

 

“Honestly, I think I lost a bet and said I would sign up,” said Richison, adding that his buddies had egged him on, knowing he had always said he would one day fight.

 

After doing some training, he fought and lost by a split decision. He was left hungry for another chance – and the motivation to get in better shape and give it another shot.

 

Upon graduating from BHS, Richison went to work in the oil and gas business. He also got serious about his training at Thomas’s Clarksburg gym, working with Steve Cross.

 

“I was working a lot around here, but also in Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania – at different compression stations as a welder’s helper,” he said. “I was doing a little fighting out of the gym, but that didn’t work out because I had to leave to work out of state.”

 

By the fall of 2016, Richison had returned to the Mountain State and his goal was to prepare for entry in the January 2017 Toughman in Clarksburg.

 

“After a couple sparring matches, I felt I wasn’t in good enough shape, so I waited for Elkins,” he said. “That’s when I set my mind that I was going to train really hard. I would work until 5 or 6 p.m., go home and then straight to the gym for a couple hours at a time. I’d train five, six or seven days a week if I could.”

 

Cross is director of Tommy Thomas Boxing where West Virginia champion pro boxers Mike Snider of Grafton and Dakota Linger of Buckhannon work with trainer Ken Wheeler.

 

Richison, along with Clarksburg’s Cordell “Rampage” Jackson, Buckhannon’s Jeff Hibbs, Clarksburg’s Haley Bishop, Harrisville’s Cody Nasters and Pennsylvania's James Rivera are the gym’s core amateur boxers who train with Cross. He said Richison has a hard punch – and other qualities it takes to succeed in the sport.

“Keith doesn’t have a lot of experience – hasn’t had a lot of fights yet – but, you know, he’s a hard worker. His work affects him a little bit, but when he works, he works long hours. He’s there all the time and puts forth a lot of time and effort into it. It wants to be successful at it,” he said.

 

A lot of guys come and go, but the ones who stick with it are in for the long haul, Cross said.

 

“Boxing doesn’t have a season. It’s training all year round because you never know when a fight or show might come up – and you have to be ready for it,” he said.

 

Richison credits the BHS football program and particularly Coach John Cole for instilling in him a good work ethic with regard to training.

 

“He always had these little sayings – and they’ve always stuck with me,” he said.

 

Cross agrees that football helped prepare his trainee for the ring.

 

“With the success level of Bridgeport’s program, they put their players through a lot of hard work and I think that has helped in a way transform him into his boxing training,” he said.

 

Richison said even his love for BHS football has played a big role in his passion for boxing.

 

“Football is gone and I can’t play like that anymore, but I love boxing and it brings back my competitive edge – and I can still live that,” he said.

 

Richison said when on the field for a game, he always played to the best of his ability, but in hindsight, he wished he would have put a little more effort into practices.

 

“When you’re in school, you think it’s going to last forever and I feel like I didn’t use my full potential,” he said. “Now that I’m older and I still do a sport that I love, I’m going to give it everything I have. If you do that, you get good results.”

 

So when it’s at the gym – conditioning, hitting the bag, running or whatever else – Richison said he gives 100 percent.

 

Besides a positive attitude and a work ethic instilled by BHS football, he also takes some big George Foreman insight about the power jab along too.

 

“He was always one of my favorites,’ Richison said. “And I like the way he uses his jab. Most fighters use it to keep their distance from their opponent, block his vision before he throws a strike with his power hand, but George had such a hard jab, he could knock people out with it.

 

A fellow member of Richison’s high school football team, Brett Hathaway made the trip to Elkins last month to show his support. He and his entire family, as well as a handful of other former Indian football players, are always in Richison’s corner, Hathaway said.

 

“It’s good to see Keith competing and committed to something he has a passion for,” he said.