Sanctuary Boxing Club's Katie Kerecz takes part in USA Boxing women's championships

Last summer, Sanctuary Boxing Club in New Kensington took five female boxers to a national competition in Kansas.

Katie Kerecz, 12, returned to the national stage last month, this time for the first USA Boxing women’s championships.

Since the last tournament, Kerecz relentlessly went to work in the gym. Rich Cantolina, the owner and head coach of Sanctuary Boxing Club, said she’s been going full speed ahead and working out before practice starts on the treadmill.

Kerecz, a Leechburg resident, was excited to compete against top-flight competition.

“You can expect me to give all my effort and have fun and enjoy my time there,” Kerecz said. “I want to reach the highest level in boxing, the Olympics and all that stuff, but it’s a marathon, not a race.”

Kerecz picked up her first win at the tournament. Kerecz is now ranked ninth nationally and continues to impress Cantolina.

“I’m proud of her not just for the boxing aspect of things but because she’s become a leader in the gym,” Cantolina said. “I think her confidence has grown and she’s really risen to the top of the totem pole in the gym. She’s become a leader for the other young girls in the gym. She’s always willing to help out and coach the other young kids in classes, so proud is an understatement.”

Cantolina mentioned how much she improved throughout her time at the gym. Cantolina, who is a professional boxer, is amazed at her form and footwork. Cantolina sees some similarities between himself and her, but he considers Kerecz as having her own style.

“It really looks like poetry in motion,” Cantolina said. “She just has this rhythm to her and she’s got really, really good footwork and head movement defensively. I think that’s the biggest thing I would say that carries over from me to her would be the footwork and the head movement. That’s something that I used in my career a lot and I see that in her a lot too.”

Kerecz is only getting better. She loves having Cantolina as a coach and she appreciates when he instructs her.

“He’s experienced a lot,” Kerecz said. “He can just add on to what he knows to us and just give us a lot of advice and fix stuff for us.”

Katie’s mother, Cindy, also loves the boxing club and started taking lessons there. She believes the gym is more than a boxing gym for the kids.

“He’s a good coach and he’s real,” Cantolina said. “He’s honest and he’ll say what he means sometimes, but in a good way to the kids. He’s not just teaching them boxing, he is teaching them life lessons. A lot of times it’s almost like we’re a family when they’re at the gym, especially with the fight team.”

It is important to be coachable in boxing and Kerecz has proven to be coachable. Although Cantolina teaches Kerecz, her mother added that her work ethic is her No. 1 attribute.

“We’re super proud,” her mother said. “She amazes me every day, what she can do. The coaches ask her, ‘let’s do it this way,’ and I watch and she does it right away. They don’t usually have to repeat themselves, and I just think it’s amazing. My husband and I are super proud of her and how far she’s come, and we know that there’s going to be a win down the road.”

Cantolina also cited Kerecz’s work ethic and how coachable she is, adding he believes the sky is the limit for her.

“She’s the one that really sticks out as far as where she wants to go with this,” Cantolina said. “I think she could not only be a great professional female boxer, I think she could carry on to win a world championship. She has both the talent, the skills and the work ethic to get there and that’s a rare breed to find. That’s why she’s the blue chip prospect because she has both a work ethic and the skills.”

Cantolina also brought boxers Brenna Shapiro and Jessica Golden from Jack’s Boxing Gym to the national event. Shapiro won a USA Boxing championship.

“Traveling (there was) a lot of fun,” Cantolina said. “Traveling to silver gold nationals, we have a lot of memories with them and I’m grateful to have them as not only just people in the gym members, but close family friends now and that’s what the gyms brought as well, a lot of friends in my life and I’m grateful for that.”

Katie’s older sister, Anna, started attending the club, as well. Katie also plays softball and is grateful to her parents for the support they provide her.

“They’re really supportive,” Kerecz said. “They said, if I lose or win, they’ll always be on my side. They put stuff aside for sports where we have to travel for sparring.”

Cindy said she enjoys watching her box and is happy that her daughters are not only getting life lessons, but also have learned self-defense.

Katie is motivated to keep going with boxing and looks forward to putting more work and time into boxing.

As for Sanctuary Boxing, Cantolina’s goals are more than boxing.

“They’re not to win national championships,” Cantolina said. “It’s to keep changing lives. That’s always been the primary goal. It’s always going to be No. 1 to use our platform for the kids that need us the most and hopefully give them a purpose through boxing and give them confidence and other life skills that they need.

“After that it will be to chase national championships and all the gold medals that we can collect, but at the end of the day those things, championships and medals just collect dust. Changing lives never does.”