JAMAICAN boxer Nicholas Walters got to where he is today by dreaming. And dreaming big at that.

Today, he sits on top of the boxing world as an undefeated professional, who currently holds the WBA Super World Featherweight title — a long way from his humble beginnings and days honing his craft in the streets of Roehampton district in St James under the tutelage of his mentor father, Job.

For winning the world title, by defeating Philippines-born American Nonito Donaire on October 18, last year by technical knockout in the sixth round as he predicted, Walters was named the RJR Sports Foundation Sportsman of the Year Award winner — breaking the stranglehold on the annual prize by athletics.

But even at his current station as a global champion and award winner — following in the footsteps of other outstanding gladiators with Jamaican roots who have conquered the boxing world — Walters keeps on dreaming.

His exploits in the ring have no doubt been a recent source of inspiration, for not only aspiring young boxers, but for every impoverished and disillusioned young Jamaican looking to succeed in the greatest game of all — life.

While he embraces the unavoidable responsibility as a role model for all Jamaicans with his amazing success story, his dreams and desires primarily rest with playing his role in finding sustainable infrastructure that will contribute in the making of possibly the next Jamaican champion.

By the sheer tone of his rhetoric, it’s clear that giving back to the sport that has given him so much is dear to Nicholas ‘Axeman’ Walters’ heart.

And he did not let slip the opportunity to champion that very cause as he addressed reporters and editors at the Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange at the newspaper’s Beechwood Avenue headquarters yesterday.

Walters, who started out in the sport tracing the footstep of his father, who himself was a pugilist of some note, said one of his big disappointments is not having gyms built in honour and in the name of some of the more recognisable names with Jamaican association.

“Right now we don’t have a gym for Mike McCallum, we don’t have a gym for Lennox Lewis, and these are guys who could maybe make a gym in their name,” he noted.

Not to suggest that they have not done it, Walters argues that some of Jamaica’s past champions, who he claims wield mighty swords in the powerful cathedrals of the sport, may need to think more about institutionalising their contributions to helping the forthcoming generation of boxers.

“Just imagine a gym in Mike’s name and he, Mike, can one day come out and say that these are two of my young fighters from my gym, and I am sure the people (international players) would just take them as they are coming from a highly recommended gym,” said the 29-year-old.

Walters — with a princely professional record of 25 fights, 25 wins and 21 of those victories by knockout — thinks more training facilities will provide opportunities for young boxers to be exposed to first-class preparation.

Also, the former Roehampton Primary and Anchovy High School student, believes mentorship by some of Jamaica’s former world champions would go a far way in passing on the fundamentals of the sport.

“I don’t want to put my focus on past boxers, but more on where we are at and looking ahead to the future. But I would like that one day people can say ‘let’s go down to the ‘Axeman’ gym, or go down to ‘Richard’ Shrimpy Clarke’s gym’, or you go down by Lennox Lewis’ gym, or the Mike McCallum gym,” he said.

“You know I want people to say that they went down to Mike McCallum’s gym and can say they see seven youths and five of them look good, and that’s what I would like to see.”

Walters, who is based in Panama for a number of years since turning pro, suggested he might have been a better fighter if he had the benefit of a former world champion to aid with technique, style and general matters related to the craft.

Walters says it is not late for those coming up behind him.

Meanwhile, the boxer said he was looking forward to the fulfilment of a promise from Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller for a gym to be set-up in his Roehampton community.

Walters had his first professional fight against Estaban Ramos of Panama in 2008, and then captured the WBA Fedelatin title a year later, which he successfully defended four times.

He then won the vacant WBA (Regular) World Featherweight title on December 8, 2012 against Colombian Daulis Prescott via a seventh-round knockout during the annual KO Drugs Festival in Jamaica.

Other world champions of note with Jamaican background are Simon Brown, Trevor Berbick and Lloyd Honeyghan.

— Sean Williams