Nicholas Walters: “Pacquiao is a very talented fighter but for me personally, I know that I would give him a hell of a fight!”

The ‘Axe Man’ Nicholas Walters is still riding high off of his impressive and dominant performance over former champion Nonito Donaire. The 6th round KO marked a turning point for Walters who has sat in relative obscurity before the big win, and now the question on most fans’ minds is, who will the undefeated Walters fight next?

In part 2 of my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Nicholas Walters, I talk with him about the options that he sees out there for himself and if he thinks he could end up moving up in weight for a bigger challenge. Walters also gives his thoughts on what his ultimate dream fight in boxing would be, and how he thinks he would do against another Filipino star, 8 division world champion, Manny Pacquiao. Here is what Nicholas Walters had to say.

Jenna J: What kind of opponents do you want to face next? They have mentioned guys like Vasyl Lomachenko for you, who would you want to fight?

Nicholas Walters: Listen, I have nothing against Lomachenko — he’s won Olympic medals and did well in the amateur game, but he has just three professional fights. If I’m supposed to fight Lomachenko and I beat Lomachenko, everybody’s gonna say, “Oh he beat the guy with four fights.”

There’s nothing for me to gain out of beating a guy with three fights. He has more to gain from fighting me than I have to gain from fighting him. I’m the guy that knocked Nonito out and that’s never happened before and I did it.

A fight with Johnny Gonzalez would definitely be a fight that I think the world would want to see because he has the Mexican crowd behind him, he definitely has a strong base right there and he said before the fight that he wanted to fight the winner. I want to unify all the belts, I want to own all the belts in featherweight, that’s my dream and that’s my aim.

Everybody’s gonna get their chance, I can guarantee that. The guy that doesn’t get a chance is the guy that doesn’t want to fight the ‘Axe Man.’ Apart from that, that’s a fight that I would definitely like, it’s an interesting fight. I would like to see how I would do against Johnny Gonzalez.

As I said, I leave the matchmaking to the matchmakers, my promoters and my managers. What I do is training and that’s what I’m doing, I’m in the gym working out. I’m getting myself ready for the next fight; I’m up for any fight.

Jenna J: You fight at 126lbs but you’re considered big for the weight class. Do you see yourself growing out of this weight class within a few fights?

Nicholas Walters: As soon as I dominate the featherweight category, if there’s nobody for me to fight in featherweight, I’m definitely gonna move up to the higher weight categories. I can see myself going up to 135lbs at the end of my career.

Now I’m at featherweight, it’s my dream to dominate the featherweights and unify the belts and then move up and fight bigger opponents also. I’m all about the big names, I’m all about fighting the best because in order to be the best you have to fight the best and that’s my aim, to fight the best and be the best.

Jenna J: What would be your dream fight, past or present with any fighter near or around your weight class? What fighter would you like to get in the ring with?

Nicholas Walters: There’s a lot of guys that if they were in my time, it would be nice to get a shot at. Oscar De La Hoya, Mayweather when he stared — I think he started at 130lbs — Pacquiao when he was coming up, there’s so many guys. In boxing there’s so many stars.

Featherweight has always been one of the toughest weights. A lot of guys that came up through the featherweights are so good. If I had gotten the chance to fight someone like that, it would be just like fighting with Donaire. It’s not only about the fight but knowing that I’m fighting a star, a big named guy like Nonito.

I enjoy myself, I enjoyed the six rounds that we did, I totally enjoyed every moment of it. A lot of people enjoyed the fight but I don’t think they enjoyed the fight as well as I did because I was the one that was fighting the fight. A lot of boxers don’t get the opportunity that was given to me to really come across and fight with these stars and I’m just enjoying it.

Jenna J: You briefly mentioned Pacquiao. If he was at 126lbs and you got a chance to fight him, how do you think that fight would go?

Nicholas Walters: I can’t tell you that, it’s all up to the training. If you have a hard fight, you have to work hard and I’m a hard worker. Win, lose or draw, any guy that comes up against me — any opponent that I’m gonna face, they need to know that in order to beat me, they know that they’re gonna have a hell of a time trying to beat me.

That’s a risk that you’re gonna take, you take it at your own risk, knowing that if you lose you’re gonna be busted up. There’s not gonna be any feeling out rounds, I’m not into feeling out rounds, I do the feeling out rounds in the gym. When I sign to fight, when I step in the ring the night of the fight, there’s no feeling out round. Right as the bell goes off, it’s action, it’s all about business, it’s all about work.

That’s the risk that a fighter takes when he’s gonna fight me and I’m always ready. I’ve never taken a fight that I’ve not been one hundred percent ready for. You know that you’re going up against someone who is one hundred percent ready with an eighty five percent knockout percentage.

When Pacquiao was at his best, most definitely you know that he’s gonna come across with more punching power than Marquez, a lot of fire and a big guy for featherweight. You know that you’re coming across a rounded fighter with speed, power, everything is going one hundred percent and it’s always difficult fighting a guy like that. I don’t know how it will turn out, Pacquiao is a very talented fighter but for me personally, I know that I would give him a hell of a fight. I’m sure that it would be a hell of a fight.

Jenna J: You have a lot of new fans, is there any message you want to pass along to them?

Nicholas Walters: Keep on watching the ‘Axe Man,’ keep on supporting because the axe is always sharp and ready to cut.

———————

NICHOLAS WALTERS: “MAYWEATHER KNOWS THAT PACQUIAO IS GONNA COME TO FIGHT AND HE’S GONNA COME TO TRY AND HURT HIM!”

READ PART 1 HERE –>https://64.176.211.96/nicholas-walters-interview-part-1/