Jul 19, 2007 By Alan Smodic For The 5 min read

Tommy Karpency can feel the nervousness. As he sits on a chair in his training facility in Adah – twiddling his fingers – he speaks of his upcoming fight. It’s not that he doesn’t know what to expect, but it’s just not going to be what he’s used to.

He’s been in the ring before. He’s taken his fair share of hits and dished out his own. In five fights since turning pro in the boxing world, he’s undefeated with two knockouts.

Only now, however, has he been ready to take the next step.

On Friday, Tommy will square off for his sixth fight, a six-rounder at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown, W.Va.

His previous fights have all been four rounds long and against lesser-experienced opponents.

“This guy is 15-15,” Tommy said, “So he’s been in some good fights with some good fighters. He’s much more experienced than I am, and six rounds is a long time to be fighting.”

Tommy is trained by his father, Tom, and is usually joined in their hometown gym by his brothers Dan and Jeremiah, along with longtime friend Jason Bergman, who also is a boxer, holding a 5-2 record after a win last week in New York.

Tommy remembers the first time he stepped into the boxing ring as a pro. He can recall it better than anyone.

“I was sick,” he said. “I felt like I could win, but it’s totally different than what I had done before.”

He broke his hand that much, but still won.

The hand, however, forced him to miss his next two fights. Missing fights for anything isn’t the best news for Tommy, especially since he’s trying to get as much experience as possible.

Before turning pro, Tommy took part in toughman competitions. In toughman, the fighters wear headgear and 16-ounce gloves. As a pro, Tommy doesn’t use headgear and holds 10-ounce gloves on his hands.

His biggest event in toughman competitions came at the world championships, where he lost to the eventual champion.

“I swear he took two out of three,” Tom says. “But that’s the one thing against him is that he doesn’t have an extensive amateur record.”

Before fighting Tommy played football and wrestled in high school. His dad believes wrestling has carried over well for him, and that it just toughened him up overall. Tommy thinks it had more of an effect.

“When you’re on the wrestle mat it gives you a lot of confidence,” he said, “Because you’re out there by yourself. Nobody else. It’s not like a part of team where everyone has to contribute.”

The same holds true for boxing.

In the ring, it’s all on Tommy’s shoulders. He’s proven that he’s capable of getting the job done and coming right at his opponents.

Tommy is a southpaw, meaning he is left-handed, which isn’t seen too much anymore in boxing. But comparing his boxing style to anyone nowadays is difficult.

“I like Floyd Mayweather,” Tommy said. “But I don’t box like him.”

While his offensive style is hard to compare, Tom believes it’s his defense that sets him apart. He says Tommy’s strength and quickness allow him to miss a few shots that other guys would take.

“He’s got a good defense. He avoids getting hit most of the time,” Tom says, while watching Tommy shadowbox. “Anybody can come out and fire punches, but the key is not getting hit by them.”

Tommy has been training for tomorrow’s fight for the past four weeks and he feels he’s ready.

The past week, though, has been nothing but lighter workouts. In order to keep loose for the fight and not tighten up, Tommy has been running and shadowboxing to keep moving around.

You can usually find Tommy in the gym doing anything from one sit up after another to continuously whaling on a speed bag. He spars wit his brothers and hits the hand pads on the mat with his father.

The gym is a second home to not only Tommy, but all of the Karpency’s.

The building, which is the old Adah Post Office, sits just off the main road in town. From the outside, you’d never know it was still occupied by anyone.

One step inside, though, and it’s as if you entered the set of a Rocky movie.

“The roof leaks, but this is home,” Tom says of the gym. “These kids wouldn’t want to go anywhere else. If you put them in a YMCA or something, they’d be lost. It’s crude, but it gets the job done.”

The preparation that takes place inside is more than enough.

It’s hard to imagine Tommy being nervous with all he’s done to be ready – not for just this fight, but for the world of boxing as a whole. The toughness in his family alone has set him up nicely for each next step in life.

Just ask Tom; he’s got the stories to prove it.

“There’s harder fights up at our house with all these kids,” Tom says of his four kids. “We laugh around the dinner table sometimes. I always say sometimes you have to eat with brass knuckles on.

“You eat with one hand, swing with the other.”