Jaque Lutz, 17 years old at the time, won the 2007 Ringside World Boxing Championship in Kansas City, Mo.

Growing up in the rough neighborhoods of Natrona Heights, Lutz has become one of the brightest young boxers in the U.S.

He started boxing at age 12 and has been eyeing greatness ever since he put the gloves on. Although he is only 18 years old and lacks the experience of his opponents, he hasn’t let that or anyone else stand in his way to reach the top.

If it hadn’t been for a family friend, the world of boxing might never have known of  Jaque Lutz. In the summer of 2001, the 12-year-old walked into James 5:16 Center in Tarentum.

“A family friend told me to go down because it was a good place for teens to hangout and meet each other,” said Lutz.  “I had no idea it was a boxing place.  We got down there and thought we were at the wrong place.” Now he is putting the West Tarentum gym on the boxing map.

“When his father introduced me to him at the age of 12, he was already almost as tall as I was and weighed 180 pounds,” said trainer Dan Shaw.

“Then I saw him from a standing position do a backward flip. I said to myself that’s an athlete and if you work with that kid and bring him along he could one day be the heavyweight champion of the world.”

Lutz is one of the best pure athletes in the sport of boxing and he is constantly searching for new ways to maximize that athleticism with quick new moves that catch his opponent’s off-guard.

“Three years ago I got into Arcade dancing to stay in shape,” Lutz said.  “It’s a good hobby and now I’m obsessed with it.  I bought myself a little dance platform and I bought the game and kept practicing and became one of the best in the Arcade.”

Lutz has had an unprecedented year that saw him collect the Western Pennsylvania Golden Gloves title, the Ringside World Boxing Championship belt, as well as the Pennsylvania State Golden Gloves title.

“The kid that he knocked out in the Ringside World Boxing Championship finals was 28 years old,” said Shaw.  “He is the Canadian National Champion and is Canada’s favorite to go to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Jaque was only 17 years old at the time.”

Lutz’s entire personality is off-target. While he presents himself as a slightly arrogant gigolo, with power in both hands, his true strength is in his excellent execution of details. Lutz is one of the best counter-punchers in the game.

“I trained him right-handed and he never complained or said anything,” said Shaw.  “So I didn’t find out until three years later when he told me that he’s left-handed. Now he is able to go back and forth from southpaw to traditional. He can beat most fighters with one-hand tied behind his back.”

Lutz has great upper-body strength and a very aggressive streak. Put those two ingredients together and you have a one man wrecking crew.

“We had a lot of problems with opponents,” said Shaw. “They say they want to fight. We get there and something happens.  Fake injuries or a hair split.”

Lutz looks more like a movie star than he does a boxer.

 “Jaque say’s all the time that he doesn’t have a boxer’s face,” said Shaw. And Muhammad Ali was kind of particular about that also.”  

Lutz is now training for the upcoming National Golden Gloves championships, in Grand Rapids, Mich., May 5-12, in which he’ll face some of the top boxers in the country.

Having fought and won against international competition, Lutz shares his trainer’s desire to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London.

Let’s hope the World Arcade Dancing finals are not on the same weekend.