Zach "Jungle Boy" Walters Interview
By Tim Hocking

Let's reset for a minute back to the Hugo Pineda fight back in November at the Target Center. Fans of Minnesota boxing gave tremendous respect to you for picking yourself up off of the canvas after taking the huge shots that you did. How did that loss affect you and how did it help you prepare for these fights?
You know, in that fight, I learned to get right, I got beat so much, but not because I wasn't up to par. I trained my butt off for that fight, just like I do for all of my fights. I train 100% for any one of my fights because any setback will put me that much further from my ultimate goal of being a world champion. Each one of these fighters, I don't care what their records look like I take them absolutely serious because I know a loss will push me back. You saw that with the informal boxrec.com rankings because (the loss to Pineda) dropped me way down. It hurt, you know? But you know what it was a night that I had to be absolutely mentally focused and prepared at my absolute best and on my 'A' game. But there was all of these other mental gymnastics going on with the round changes, the potential ESPN offers, and the 'we'll do good by you next time' promises, and all of this other stuff. Then, the rounds were six, then we (they) aren't taking the fight, then, 'hold on, we need you on this card because you have a lot of fans here' and 'we need to make this fight happen, I'm sure we can come to an agreement'. It was just a very frustrating day for me because not only was I going through these mental gymnastics but my teammate Andy Kolle was going through it as well. Chuck was on the phone all day just trying to find Andy a fight. He was supposed to have a great match-up, but I don't know if that fight was even really there. Chuck was on the phone trying to deal with Andy's match the day of the fight. Tell me that is not frustrating. So here I am as a fighter, trying to prepare for the biggest challenge of my young career, and my manager is dealing with some other B.S. I feel totally set up. Straight up. And how has that fight helped me now? It has made me that much more determined. Chuck and I had a meeting and we said you know what? Perseverance is what this pro game is all about. That's what it takes. I talked to Buddy McGirt the next day and his biggest concern was, "Zach are you going to be alright? Ae you OK?" And I said, yes, I'm going to be OK, physically I'm fine. I feel like now I (know) I can get up and finish a fight. I can't complain you know? Was I hurt? Yeah, he hit me with two great rock hard shots. He set it up just perfect with those counters. So again, I can't argue with the stoppage. But now I know, I have the ability to get up off the canvas and whip the other guy flat. I did it with Muller, I did it with a broken ear drum in Tacoma, WA. I do know that I have the ability to get up, facing tough adversity, and knock a guy out. I can't argue with the stoppage, but could I have continued? Yes, I think I could have. I could have got up and seized the fight. If it were a full eight rounds, absolutely, I would have had another 3 or 4 rounds to get my business done. Could I have finished him off with only one more round, the sixth round, I don't know. He was a very experienced veteran, he was feinting and feinting from the first round on and then he set his feet and landed those perfect counters and cross, bam! He was an experienced vet and I'll tip my hat to him. Anyone that can beat me, I'll tip my hat because I train to win. That's it.

I hate to go into cliché mode here, but it is often said that you learn the most from your biggest disappointments in life and certainly that plays itself out in boxing as well. Perhaps was that the case with that loss to Pineda?
Oh, absolutely. You know, it damaged my ego a little bit, having the big show, 'boxing is back at the Target Center', although it wasn't the first time I had fought at the Target Center. We had the North Dakota commission come in a few years ago on the PPV show with Vanda versus Campas. I've fought under some of the big lights so that wasn't it. It was just that I had this big showdown with a veteran southpaw. I want to erase this whole thing about 'Zach Walters can't fight southpaws because that is not the case. I can fight them, and I can beat southpaws, and I already have beat some in my career. Would I like a rematch with Pineda? For sure. For sure I would, under our conditions. It would be a tough fight to take and I understand that. I'm in a position to have everything to lose and he would have everything to gain. It would be a tough fight to make, but shoot, if he made it again he's done. I tell you that right now. I see the way he fights and this time it won't be one of those mental gymnastics. I'll have my fight plan, as a team a solid corner, and I can't be beat when things are going that way. My corner is solid and I go out there and I'm focused, I'm ready, and I can make adjustments when I have to. I'll beat anyone across the ring from me.

Going back to this last fight of yours Zach, it seems like this guy came to wrestle instead of fight. After all you put up with inside the ring how were you able to maintain your composure and take care of business in there?
I was goofing off and I was having so much fun. The changes I made in my boxing style allowed me to go five rounds with a complete lunatic without even having so much as a black eye or a scratch on my face. In the first round he tried to jab my body and I dropped an overhand right on him, called "The Jackhammer" after our trainer Jack, it was great man! I put the Jackhammer right on his face and he was all wobbly and stuff. So I said, OK, James Johnson I'm going to have some fun. I'm confident I can take this guy out whenever I want to and so we decided to have some fun. As long as I was staying safe, the crowd was having fun, I was going to keep the fight going. I decided to start cutting the fight short in the fourth because when the bell rang at round three, I heard the bell rang, and BOOM he jumped out and cracked me. So I was like, OK, alright, so in the fourth round I decided to give him a whooping. Then in the fifth I was pretty confident I was going to take him out. I nailed him with a really nice left hook to the chin and he went all wobbly and starting complaining about an elbow. That's when they called the fight and it was chaos in the ring. To keep my composure it was because of the changes I made after the Pineda fight. I've change up my stance a little and it's like night and day. I can sit in the ring with a guy throwing shots at me and, well, I'll say it like this, I'm a much more complete boxer. I was having a blast.

So what do you know about your opponent on Friday and what can we expect to see from you in the ring?
I'm going to box him. I'm going to box his ears off. He's a short guy, he's a nice strong guy so I'm sure he'll come out and try to put the pressure on me. He comes from the same camp that Ted Muller came from so you know Ted Muller had success in the first round coming out and trying to catch me. So I expect they are going to try to do something similar except on the receiving end they are going to see that it isn't going to go down like that this time. He's not going to catch me in the first round and in fact if he tries to pull that shannanigans he is going to end up on his back. He's confident, I'll tell you that. When he was 1-1 he fought a 7-0 guy and then followed that with a 5-0 guy. I know he is going to be confident and I know that his manager and trainer are going to beat the drum getting him all fired up for this fight hoping to get revenge for the beating I gave to Ted Muller. It will be a short guy tall guy thing and is he a better short fighter than I am a tall fighter? I don't think so, but we'll see, it's going to be a good fight.

Like I mentioned in the interview with Skarky, you showed up on the radar screen on the WBC rankings before the KO loss to Pineda and were moving up on the unofficial boxrec.com rankings. So after that loss, does the desire to get back in the rankings cross your mind as you prepare again for this fight? Do you feel you have to win in spectacular fashion or do you just want to get the win?
Just win, baby. You know we have another fight coming up on May 4th. Whatever way it comes to me. If this guy is strong and doesn't want to come in on me then I'll take him however he wants to go. If I end up catching him and he gets all wobbly, then I'll just finish him off. But if I can't catch him, I'm ready to go eight rounds. I'll just treat him like a sparring partner. I'm absolutely on top of my game. God has blessed me with tremendous skills and dreams.

Is there anything else you would like to say in closing?
We are going to make it happen up here in Fargo. Chuck, Andy and I have anything north of the Twin Cities, it's ours, man! We are going to make it out here in Fargo; we are going to make it happen. We came out here two weeks in advance to put the finishing touches on camp. We've been in camp, honestly, since early December, all of us. We said, we are going to get some points back and take names. I'm incredibly ready. So we came out here early and we are going to come out and shake hands, and like the lady says, let's go get elected. We're for real and the boxing they are going to see is as professional as professional can get. We live a Spartan life style, we don't mess around with night jobs or anything, we are full time pro's and what you are going to see is great fight entertainment. I'm just excited for this opportunity to bring boxing back to the Fargo-Morehead area. They had a pretty good turnout last time for a few decent fights. This whole fight card is matched really well and every fight has really strong crowed pleasing potential and that's just what we do. That's why Horton's Gym, Sharky Promotions, and the whole Duluth team has really brought it all back and we are doing the same thing in Fargo. Any fan that comes out will walk away fully pleased and those that can't make it will wish they would have made the show. I'm confident of that.

Send Questions or Comments to Tim at timandanita17@yahoo.com