If it were me, I would try and come up with a bit of a history for the character first. Ask youself: Why does he want to be a fighter? Was there a certan event that triggered it? a certain person maybe? What is he like besides fighting? Keep asking yourself questions like this and get a rough sketch of your character.
After you have done that a bit and you are satisfied with your character\'s background (doesn\'t have to be a big background either, just a bit of a \'skeleton\'), choose what race you feel would work best. What \'skin\' would your character best fit in?
After that you should be ready to role. Personally, I think if you can prepare your character in advance, and can add even just a slight bit of roleplay to your \'fighter\', you will have a lot more fun with him/her in the long run.
My opinion anyway.