On a random night in the mid-1980s, Jimmy Stewart settled on his couch, switched on ESPN and had his life change with the speed of a kick to the head.

On that fateful night, he saw kickboxer Bill "Superfoot" Wallace fight.

He was hooked.

Stewart became enamored with the roundhouse kicks and jabs performed by the world famous kickboxer.

"I said, 'I want to do that,'" Stewart said.

So, the Butler native did. He found a gym, an instructor and the will to become a professional kickboxer.

"I told my very first instructor I wanted to be a kickboxer like Bill "Superfoot" Wallace," Stewart said. "He told me I was crazy. That was my motivation."

Stewart became more than just a professional kickboxer. He became one of the best ever.

Stewart, now 45 and shuttling between his hometown Butler and his adopted home of Anaheim, Calif., has a 19-0 professional record and three world titles to go with his United States, North America and Pennsylvania belts.

He will get his biggest honor and thrill Saturday when he is inducted into the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.

And who will induct him? Bill "Superfoot" Wallace.

"I always thought, 'Someday, I want to be like him,'"Stewart said. "He's a legend and now he's inducting me into the (Hall)."

The ceremony will take place at the Golden Nugget casino in downtown Las Vegas.

Stewart was nominated for induction into the martial arts hall of fame the last two years, but wasn't selected.

More than 15,000 martial arts athletes, instructors and coaches are nominated each year. Only 50 — one from each state — are inducted.

Stewart said he did not know who has nominated him the last three years. He's just happy and honored to be getting in.

"The path that led me here," Stewart said, "there's no way I would have ever expected to take."

Stewart hasn't hung up the gloves and boots yet, although he finds it nearly impossible to stage a bout in Pennsylvania because of the state's stringent testing of fighters his age.

Stewart is planning to climb back into the ring Nov. 3 in Morgantown, W.Va. Details of that bout are still in the initial stages.

"(Pennsylvania) requires a multitude of tests," Stewart said. "They want to make sure you are neurologically sound and make sure you are not going to get hurt. I've been looking to other states, like West Virginia, where the commissions are a lot less strict."

Stewart said his November bout will most likely be his last.

He continues to instruct and run his own kickboxing gyms. But he is coming to the conclusion his kickboxing days are numbered.

Still it peak condition, Stewart said he is well aware that father time is creeping up, ready to plant a roundhouse kick.

"I'd fight every week if I could," Stewart said. "I've been kind of ignoring the fact for quite some time that I need to hang them up.

"I'm getting older. I've already fought the people I need to fight. Now that I'm at the top, what's next? I can still talk, think, walk and I want to keep it that way. I want to go out undefeated, like Superfoot did."

Stewart already has achieved his idol's legend status inAnaheim, where he said he is flooded with autograph requests when he makes guest appearances at various gyms to speak to youth interested in the sport.

"The Mexican population in Southern California is crazy about kickboxing," Stewart said. "Iget mobbed for autographs and a major-league baseball player can walk by and no one will give a second look."

Stewart is aware that there might be a young boy in the crowd, looking up at him and thinking, "I want to do that. I want to be like Jimmy Stewart" in much the same way Stewart gazed with fascination at "Superfoot" Wallace.

"You don't realize that coming up the ranks," Stewart said. "You are eager to fight and fight and work your way up, you don't see that. I hope there is someone out there looking up to me like that."