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Determined 'Stoneman' rocking boxing world

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By Jim Manion
September 3, 2010

 

By Jim Manion | Correspondent

RANDOLPH — The world of professional boxing is very dangerous. It is not only a meat-grinder of punishment beyond your imagination, but it is also one of the most confusing systems in the sports world.

What other sport has four champions?

To the layperson, even a sports fan that very seldom switches from ESPN, the rankings by World Professional Boxing leave a lot to be desired. There is the WBA, WBC, WBO and then even the IBF. When you dial up the websites, you find guys ranked in the top five of one organization and not even ranked in one of the others.

To Randolph’s Nicolai “Stoneman” Firtha the system is not confusing at all, especially when he knows exactly where is wants to go. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound 31-year old wants to move up the lists regardless of where his name appears.

That goal is now becoming a reality.

Firtha claimed the North American Boxing Association heavyweight belt in June with an upset win over Tony Grano. Then, on Aug. 20, he defended that title with a decision over Mike Sheppard at the Nauticia Pavilion in Cleveland.

Firtha improved his record to 19-7-1 (8 KOs). His name is now being mentioned in the top-10 rankings of several boxing organizations, which could create another title-fight for Firtha.

At the present time, Firtha is nursing the knuckle on his middle finger, which is about three times the size it should be.

Because of the knuckle, the schedule for his next fight is probably October or November. In the meantime, he is concentrating on strength conditioning and working out several times a week with former Waterloo football coach Bob Jarvis.

The climb to a possible world championship is a dream that Firtha first realized about 10 years ago shortly after graduating from Southeast High School. The soft-spoken athlete transferred from Waterloo his senior year to play basketball for the Pirates.

Firtha was a stringbean 10-year old maybe tipping the scales at 80 pounds.

As  years went by, he grew and matrued both on the baseball diamond and the basketball court.

He has always been a young man that knew exactly what he wanted and was a competitor that worked hard on his game.

Firtha’s dad (Joe) and uncle (Mike) both had a boxing backgrounds and his dad bought him and his brother boxing gloves when they were young.

“Boxing was always in my ear,” Firtha said. “I was always listening to my dad and uncle talking about the sport and going to my grandfather’s to watch big bouts. I was a bank loan officer when I was 20 years old and just couldn’t decide what I wanted to do in life.

“When I finally told my Dad that I wanted to enter a gold-glove tournament, he gave me a six-month routine,” Firtha said. “I think his idea was to get me discouraged. My dad and uncle Mike did everything they could do to talk me out of getting into the ring.”

When his father realized that Nick would not give up on his dream, he decided to get on board and manage his son.

Firtha’s dad, who died three years ago, passed the torch for Nick’s career to trainer Terry Nicopolis.

Firtha comes from a long line of athletes in his family. His father and uncle won Akron gold glove championships in the 1970s. His great uncle, Lou Perry, was a running back for Kent State. His uncle, Tony Perry, was the first in the family to get into the ring.

Now when Firtha climbs into the ring, he usually has 30 or 40 relatives offering ringside support.

“I still remember my first fight,” Firtha said. “I went up against a guy named Cory Gregory. He was huge, and I remember thinking to myself what in the world I had got myself into. I won a split decision and that was the beginning of it all.”

Firtha has now dedicated his life to accomplishing his goal in the professional ring. He has put two years of classes at Kent State on hold and found it hard to hold down a steady job in exchange for endless training.

To get by, Firtha has carried a golf bag as a caddie for several years at the Congress Lake Country Club and also helps a friend that has a valet service.

Outsidee of that, Firtha’s world consists of seven days of working on his fight game.

“I go to bed watching it, I wake up in the morning watching it and eat breakfast thinking about it,” Firtha said. “I think maybe that’s why I like boxing so much. I think about how my dad trained me for it. It’s how you conduct your day, its how you eat and what you eat every day. The key is a good regiment.”

Firtha lives in Randolph with his mother Deb, a 30-year teacher in the Akron school system.

The financial bottom line is not important to Firtha. He admits that so far boxing has not paid the bills and his paydays for professional victories have not been big. It’s the final payday that the Stoneman is anticipating down the road.

Currently the names that Firtha attempts to stare down are the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitaly.

Wladimir holds the IBF and WBO belts, while Vitaly is the WBC champion.

David Haye is the WBA heavyweight champion. Firtha had a contract to fight on the undercard of a Wladimir Klitschko IBF championship bout in Germany on Sept. 11, but will pass because of his knuckle.

Weather you call him Nick, Nicolai or The Stoneman, the Klitschko brothers and Haye know about Firtha.

They know he has moved into the ranks.

Once a fighter climbs into a top 15 ranking, everyone starts to jockey for position and set up fights for their advantage. Firtha believes he has the trainers, coaches, family and friends that know his potential and can help him reach his goal.

For a determined Firtha, he won’t stop until he gets his chance.

 




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