Steve Richie tried sparring once when he was 17 years old. He quickly decided boxing wasn’t for him.

“I got hit across the bridge of my nose with a forehead,” Mr. Richie recalled. “The pain was excruciating. It was just blinding pain, literally blinding pain where it hurt so bad you couldn’t open your eyes.”

Kickboxing, though? He’s fallen in love with that — both as a high-intensity exercise and as a business.

Last month, Mr. Richie, now 43, and business partner Angela Crosby opened 9Round, a specialty kickboxing gym on South Reynolds Road in Maumee. So far they’ve signed up 65 members.

In the time between getting his snout smashed and becoming a gym owner, Mr. Richie worked for United Van Lines, starting as the guy who comes in and hauls your couch to the truck. He later got promoted to sales manager, but said he wasn’t completely content.

“It just got to a point where I said, ‘I want to own my own business.’ I still have good ties with my old company, but it was something that after 25 years, I took that leap and said if I’m going to do it, I’ve gotta do it now,” he said.

He and Ms. Crosby worked with a firm that helps connect prospective business owners with companies that are franchising. The company returned three possible matches, but were both drawn to 9Round immediately.

“We were just absolutely sold. There is nothing like this in the Toledo area,” he said.

Though there are a number of area gyms that offer kickboxing classes, Mr. Richie says 9Round is unique in that its entire program is based around kickboxing and doesn’t operate in fixed classes.

Participants cycle through nine stations, spending three minutes at each. Six of the nine stations involve either speed bags or heavy bags. The others are strength-training.

The first 9Round gym opened in Greenville, S.C., in 2007. The idea behind the program comes from Shannon Hudson, a professional kickboxing champion.

Mr. Hudson started franchising the concept in 2009, and it has grown tremendously since then. There are now 220 gyms in 38 states, and Entrepreneur magazine ranked 9Round 288th on its 2015 list of the top 500 franchises.

Drew Brashier, director of operational support for 9Round Franchising, said the company was eager to enter the Toledo area and hopes to expand here.

Mr. Richie and Ms. Crosby hope to open at least five more gyms in the greater Toledo area.

“I think one big factor that really separates us, outside of the workout itself, is the personality factor,” Mr. Brashier said. “We understand the concept that this is very much a people-oriented business.”

Mr. Richie and Ms. Crosby had to travel to Greenville to learn about the program, be trained on it, and be vetted by the company. In all they’ve invested just under $100,000.

Mr. Richie quit his job to work at the gym full time. Right now, that means 13-hour days.

Ms. Crosby does administrative work in her spare time.

They also employ two trainers. Memberships start at $50 a month.

Contact Tyrel Linkhorn at tlinkhorn@theblade.com or 419-724-6134 or on Twitter @BladeAutoWriter.

First Published May 27, 2015, 4:00 a.m.