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SportGlobe
December 5-11, 2012
Email: sportglobe2005@yahoo.com
‘The Axeman’
cometh
LEROY BROWN
SportGlobe Writer
N
icholas ‘The Axeman’
Walters will try to become
Jamaica's ninth world box-
ing champion on Saturday,
December 8, at the National Indoor
Sports Centre, when he clashes
with Colombian Daulis Prescott for
the World Boxing Association
(WBA) featherweight title over 12
rounds.
Walters told
SportGlob
e he was con-
fident of victory as he intensified train-
ing at his Panama headquarters.
It has been a long and interesting road
for 26-year-old Walters, son of noted
Jamaican boxing trainer Job Walters,
who fought as an amateur and a profes-
sional.
Father Job introduced his older sons,
Nicholas O'Brien and Nicholas Job, to
boxing when they were only six years
old. His other son, Oraine, is one of
Jamaica's top amateurs.
Born a month apart to different moth-
ers, Nicholas O'Brien was born on
January 4, 1986, and Nicholas Job, also
called ‘Roger’, for easy reference, was
born on February 10, 1986. It is Nicholas
O'Brien who will be climbing into the
ring on December 8.
Job confided that ‘Roger’ was also a
very good boxer.
"In the early days, he was much bet-
ter that Nick and could beat him, but his
mother did not really like the sport and
she did not encourage him the way
Nick's mother did. She is a great boxing
fan and supported me and Nick, and she
is looking forward to him becoming
champion," he said.
AMATEUR CAREER
Job said Nicholas loved the sport
from early and he never had any diffi-
culty getting him to train. He became
better each year, had a very successful
amateur career and excelled not only in
Jamaica but in the Caribbean and on
the world scene.
Nicholas was a two-time Caribbean
amateur featherweight boxing champion
and, in 2006, was voted ‘Best Senior
Boxer’ and ‘Most Outstanding Boxer’ of
the Caribbean Amateur Boxing
Association Championships. He also won
a bronze medal at the Pan American
Games in Brazil in 2006.
Nicholas ended his amateur career
with 30 wins and five losses, and became
a professional in 2008 under the guid-
ance of Jacques Deschamps Jr, whose
father, Deschamps Sr, successfully man-
aged one of Jamaica's most revered
fighters, former Commonwealth and
world-rated champion, Bunny Grant.
He made his professional debut on
August 2, 2008, and scored a unani-
mous decision over Panamanian
Estaban Ramos in a four-round
curtain raiser. Only 17 days
later, he had another fight,
this time against Luis
Gonzalez, and scored a sec-
ond-round technical knock-
out (TKO) in a fight sched-
uled for four rounds.
BRILLIANT SHOWING
After five successful four-
rounders, Nicholas stepped up
to six rounds on December 5 that
year and scored his fifth successive
stoppage, taking out Ovidio Mojica
in four rounds.
People started to take notice of
him and, with his brilliant
showing in training, word
started getting around
about “the exciting
Jamaican fighter".
Nicholas now had
seven fights and had
won them all inside
the distance. He kept
his win streak going
so impressively that
his manager felt confi-
dent enough to accept a
title fight for him, the
vacant WBA Fedelatin title.
He did not dis-
appoint as, on December 18, 2009, in
Haiti, Nicholas defeated Carlos Manuel
Reyes by unanimous decision to become
the WBA Fedelatin champion. He was
now well on his way to the top of the
division.
FIGHT SCHEDULED
Nicholas made two successful title
defences of his Fedelatin title, and won
both convincingly.
He so completely over-
whelmed Jose Miguel
Payares when they
met on July 31,
2010, that Payares
retired in round five in a fight sched-
uled for 11 rounds.
His next title defence was in Jamaica,
against Angel Salinas on June 16, 2011.
It was his first professional fight in
Jamaica. To the raucous cheers of his
fans, he scored a dramatic second-round
TKO victory.
These victories allowed him to climb
up the ladder in the WBA ratings to the
number-one contender spot this year.
He is unbeaten in 21 fights, 17 of
which have ended inside the distance,
giving him an 81 per cent knockout
record.
Nicholas should have fought champion
Celestine Caballero for the title but, cit-
ing the amount of money he was being
offered, after a purse bid, as inad-
equate, Caballero decided to
give up the title.
The WBA named
number-five con-
tender Daulis
Prescott to
f i g h t
Wa l ters
for the vacant
title and both men
will
exchange
punches
on
December 8 with
the WBA feather-
weight title as the
main prize.
Nicholas ended his amateur career
with 30 wins and five losses, and
became a professional in 2008 under
the guidance of Jacques Deschamps Jr, whose father,
Deschamps Sr, successfully managed one of Jamaica's
most revered fighters, former Commonwealth and
world-rated champion, Bunny Grant.