Physical Chess

  • Published
  • By Lauren Russell
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – They tap gloves, accepting the challenge.

Stepping methodically around the ring, the boxers attempt to outsmart their opponent in a game of quickness, strength and power.

“It’s like a dance,” said Gregory Leschishin, 66th Force Support Squadron Information, Tickets and Tours Office manager. “I call it a game of physical chess.”

Leschishin first got involved with boxing as a young man as a way to cope with anxieties related to a dysfunctional childhood home.

“Finally a colleague told me that instead of being self-destructive, I should hit this bag,” he said.

From there the Cleveland, Ohio, native’s passion for boxing only grew. However, his role changed from participant to coach in the early 1990s when he moved to Massachusetts.

“A few months after I got here, I saw someone in my local gym struggling to hit a bag properly,” he said. “It was a way for me to be constructive within the sport, and I started helping people regularly.”

Leschishin began coaching in small studios before putting all of his savings into his own gym. He opened the Boston Sport Boxing Club in May 1990 in Arlington, Mass.  

Thanks to Hollywood depictions, Leschishin said, most people expected his gym to be a gritty, dimly lit cell full of grown men pummeling each other, but that was not the case. He explained the stigma of boxing being a savage exchange between ruthless brutes was not the image he wanted tied to his business.

“You could have eaten off my floors,” he said. “I pride myself on creating a clean, safe place where I can teach boxing in a regulated and structured way.”

The longtime Hanscom employee has remained heavily involved with amateur, Olympic-style boxing. He represents New England on the Executive Board of USA Boxing and is ranked 21st in the country for officials. He is also a founder of the Masters Boxing Division, a league for male and female athletes over the age 37.

Although his gym is no longer open, Leschishin is again looking for the chance to teach aspiring athletes at Hanscom AFB the physical game of chess.

Leschishin will host a boxing class at the Fitness and Sports Center on base where he will introduce attendees to unique workouts while demonstrating proper techniques. 

“You can run and lift weights all you want, but boxing will improve your balance, coordination, cardio and agility,” he said.

Leschishin’s desire to teach is not solely rooted in his passion of the sport, he said. It’s to give back to the service members on the installation.

“Whatever I can do to help our members be in the best physical shape they can be, I’m going to do it,” he said.

For more information on classes, contact the Fitness Center at 781-225-6630. For training inquiries, contact Leschishin at 617-595-8141.