Jamaica's featherweight boxing champion Nicholas Walters. - file

Jamaica's featherweight boxing champion Nicholas Walters will be making a bid for his second international title on Saturday, when he takes on Nicaraguan champion Gonzalo Mungia for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) FedeLatin title, in Panama.

Walters, who now holds the World Boxing Association (WBA) FedeLatin title, and is at the No. 10 spot in their world ratings, has his eyes firmly set on a world title fight next year. A victory on Saturday would put him in the world ratings of another of the major controlling bodies, so he has a lot at stake and cannot afford a setback.

Mungia will definitely be the most impressive opponent that Walters would have faced in his two-year career in the professional ranks. The Nicaraguan has a 17-6-3 record with 13 knockout victories to his credit, and fought for the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) super featherweight title last May. Although he lost that fight, he is still seen as a formidable and talented fighter, and the contest with Walters will be an attempt at redemption on his part.

He is quoted as saying recently that Walters will be his "stepping stone to another world title fight", and that he is "taking him very seriously". It is interesting to note also, that he normally fights in the heavier super featherweight class, so, although he has to lose weight for the weigh-in the day before the fight, he will quite likely be four to five pounds heavier than Walters on fight night.

I spoke to Walters in Miami yesterday, where he has been training in the former world light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson's camp with trainer Orlando Cuellar. He said he had just finished watching tapes of some of Mungia's fights and now has a good feel for how he fights.

"I will be well prepared for him" he said. "Mungia will be a difficult opponent and is coming to fight. He is aggressive and comes at you, so I have to be well prepared for his attacks. I am in great shape however, and I too will be ready. It should be a good fight and I am really looking forward to winning another title at his expense" he concluded.

Walters, who is 16-0, defended his WBA title successfully on October 16, when he stopped Panama's Julio Camano in four rounds, in a performance that was rated as outstanding.