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WALTERS REMAINS PROMINENT FIGURE IN SPORT
FOLLOWING TWO YEARS OF RETIREMENT
11.16.11
By Ray Kilgore

 

On a recent business trip I stopped at a local McDonalds for lunch and had a conversation with a social worker from an agency called North Homes. As we spoke about various topics, the young lady impressed me with her ability to recite the different locations of boxing gyms in the area. Somehow our conversation turned to Zach Walters and his local popularity. “He’s very big up here,” she said. “You know the mayor gave him his own gym.” She turned to a kid who looked to be 13 and said, “If you want to box, I can take you there.”

While the young boy showed little interest in boxing, I was amazed by the fact that this woman, who was not a boxing fan in any way, knew of Walters and the impact he had on Duluth , both in and outside of the ring. Whether you support him or not, there are two undisputed truths when it comes to Walters: he’s a guaranteed Minnesota Boxing Hall-of-Famer, and there’s no other Duluth area fighter, past or present, who comes close to the Walters' popularity as a boxer.

Walters wasn’t an over-the-top fighter; he didn't have extraordinary skills, but what the 6-foot-4 former fighter was able to do was connect with fans and boxing insiders. Walters was born and raised in Taolagnaro , Madagascar , to missionary parents. He grew up speaking the native language and adopted their traditions. But just before he turned 12, his parents made a decision that rocked Walters’ foundation.

“I understood the cultural customs and my place among my native friends,” Walters told Ben Tighe, better known in the boxing world as “Fistic Mystic,” in an interview. “When my family moved to the States [Walters was 12 at the time], I believed it would be only for a short time. I thought we would be back in the tropics of Africa after [the] visit to the States,” he said. “Year after year, the return to Madagascar did not happen.”

Walters, clearly upset by the move, needed to find an outlet that gave him a sense of belonging and a place where he could find the happiness he had felt living in Taolagnaro. After a ho-hum start to life in the USA , Walters, who was an active kid, decided to join the Taekwondo Gym, where his younger brother Jake was becoming skilled in Karate. While Walters had no real desire to take up the sport, Karate helped him to kill some time at night. But the former 175-pound fighter stumbled and flip-flopped his way around until he became a distraction. Finally, Jake’s instructor suggested that Walters try boxing.

“If not for boxing, I’m not sure I would have found an identity in the States,” Walters told “Fistic Mystic.” “Boxing was a fit right away.” Walters stuck with the sport, but at age 20, and given that the odds, for any athlete, to make the Olympic team and win a medal was probably 662,000 to 1, Walters gave up any Olympic dreams and turned professional at age 21. Walters had already teamed up with the now-retired trainer Chuck Horton, and from there, the two men stargazed a plan that gave Walters exposure and an image as a fighter.

Horton came up with the ring alias “Jungle Boy,” and Walters, who holds a B.A. in psychology and is a creative person by nature, took full advantage of the chance to craft an image, making his ring walk to the Guns N' Roses tone “Welcome To The Jungle,” wearing a leopard print boxing robe. Part of the song’s lyrics say, “Welcome to the jungle. We got fun 'n' games.” And after a successful start as a professional, Walters wasn’t only having fun, he was becoming a hit among local boxing fans.

“What brought them to be “Jungle” fans is his amazing personality and his honest-and-true heart,” said one fan, who posted a comment on an article written about Walters by a blogger. “He always had time for his fans, never hesitated to chat with anyone who approached him, and as stated, is quite a role model for the youth of this area… I am proud to have my son see him as an example of what a man should be.”

Walters was enjoying his success. In 2006, the now-defunct magazine “Boxing Digest” named him as a Prospect of the Month. And in February 2008, he won a small title—the WBC African Boxing Union Light Heavyweight championship, a fitting honor, given his birthplace. Four months later, Walters added the NABA light heavyweight belt to his list of awards, blowing out Aaron Norwood in two rounds.

But as time went on, Walters had to deal with some of the less glamorous realities of boxing. He would go 1-3 in his last three fights, and he started losing to boxers he might have beaten earlier in his career. In limbo, Walters faced some difficult decisions. With a career record of 24-5, 19 KOs , his ride was now over.

“I was dumbstruck,” he told Minnesotaboxing.com last week about the day he retired in 2009, after a lost to Larry Sharpe. “The decision to move on from boxing was not a wishy-washy decision….I remember sitting on the bottom step of my stairwell as my wife left for work,” he said. “Usually I’d head out to train when she left, and this time it was different. I felt like working out, but didn’t have a goal. I wanted to do something, but didn’t know what. I sat there with the feeling I’d just lost a job. It was gut-wrenching. I went back upstairs and went to bed and slept the morning away. After lunch I tried to accomplish something meaningful, but I just keep looking at the time thinking of what I would be doing if I was still fighting.”

This article is the first in a three-part series covering Zach Walters. Look for the second part to be posted tomorrow and part three following the Duluth amateur boxing show tomorrow night (Thursday, November 17, 2011).

 

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