Kickbox legend Stewart honored
MERIDIAN — A car accident that ended his kickboxing career and left him blind in one eye has not stopped Jimmy Stewart.
The Butler native, who held three world kickboxing titles and was 19-0 with 11 knockouts when he was hit by a car while crossing the street while training for a title defense in Las Vegas in 2008, will be inducted into the East Coast Action Magazine Hall of Honors in Atlantic City, N.J., Saturday night.
He earned a spot in the hall for his work as an ambassador to martial arts.
Stewart is also a member of the United States Martial Arts and the International Kickboxing Federation halls of fame.
“I never expected to be honored like this. Not at all,” Stewart said.
Stewart entered the kickboxing ring professionally for the first time at age 36. What followed was more than a decade of dominance in the sport.
Two years after his first pro bout, he won his first IKF title. Two more followed, including epic bouts against Benart “Swiftkick” Robinson, who Stewart still calls a close friend.
He claimed his third IKF title when six challengers backed out of scheduled bouts. In 2004, IKF president Steve Fossum awarded Stewart the championship, saying that he deserved the title “simply because he challenged only the best.”
Stewart was preparing for another fight at age 47 when a car slammed into him while crossing a Las Vegas street.
He was dragged by the car for several feet and was just happy to be alive.
But the impact shattered his knee and left him with nine bulging discs in his back.
His right eye also was damaged.
After several years of treatment to try to save his sight, Stewart, now 51, became blind in the eye.
“It's my dominant eye,” Stewart said. “The last three of four years I've been recuperating, trying to save it. It just wasn't to be.”
Stewart still wonders what might have been had that car not struck him.
“Well, I'm sure everything happens for a reason,” Stewart said. “I was 19-0 at the time. I would have continued to dominate. I had fought everyone on that ladder.”
Now several years removed from his kickboxing career, Stewart is still very active in the sport, as well as mixed martial arts and tae kwon do.
He runs a gym in Butler where he teaches those disciplines and trains up-and-coming fighters.
“When I was coming up, I looked up to a lot of guys,” Stewart said. “Now, there are guys actually doing the same to me.”
Stewart conducts private lessons out of his gym and enjoys his work with the young fighters.
“That's what it's all about.” Stewart said. “There's some people who want to keep it all to themselves. But when you share something with someone else and you see them go out and use it and succeed, there's nothing like that.”
