Zach "Jungle Boy" Walters faced a difficult teen life, but through it all, he's learned the meaning of, determination, dedication, and commitment not only in the game of boxing, but in life as well.

The move that started it all
The 6 feet 3 175 pounder was born in MN but moved to Madagascar early in his childhood to do missionary work with his parents. At age 11, his family moved to California after his father took a job there, "I didn't fit in at all" says Walters who had problems adjusting to city life. At school he was bullied, taunted, and teased, and when peers discovered he wasn't willing to defend himself--things got worse. One day at lunch, a peer, whom the other kids at school were afraid of, started picking on Walters; a fed-up Walters lost it and beat the boy up, "I felt there was nothing to loose [because] I thought nobody liked me anyway." But for some peers, Walters was seen as heroic. Eventually, Walters started hanging with the troubled boys, and later joined their gang and quickly learned the "culture" of the streets, "I learned how to throw a backpack at one kid then hit him, and pick up the backpack and use it as a weapon against the other kids."

Thanks to parents for nudge and Sensei for push
Walters got into trouble on a regular basis in California, and formed an identity as "a bad boy;" because of this, and other factors, his parents decided to move back to MN settling in a small town. But the move didn't change things. Walters, who graduates this summer with a B.A. in psychology, now faced with conflict of being pressured to get involve in outside activities, and his a need to continue his rebellious ways.
The fighter's younger brother was involved in Karate at the time, and his parents thought Walters should join as well; but he felt differently, "I knew he [his younger brother] was advance in [karate] and I wasn't going to let him teach or train me" he says laughing. Walters, the second oldest of three and a gifted artist, talked with his brother's Sensei who encouraged him to try boxing; he did and at age 14, found he was good at the sport.

Over coming adversity
Although he ended his amateur career with 72 bouts, boxing at the time wasn't able to distract him from problematic behaviors, "I was more concerned with being a rebel and breaking rules." Eventually he was placed in a residential program in Duluth MN, a place he now calls home, and although he learned skills at the program, it wasn't enough to keep him out of trouble; Walters quickly resumed his old ways after leaving the program, and was kicked off the boxing team-a move that prevented him from trying out for the 2000 Olympic team. Walters continued to get into problems with the law, and one day decided to have a private talk with his God, "I asked God to tell me his plans. If he wanted me in prison let me know but I couldn't continue like this" says the emotional fighter.

A new day
Walters took action and made a promise to change his life, "There were a lot of people who stuck their necks out for me, and now that I am older, I can appreciate that;" one of his supporters was manager/trainer Chuck Horton; Horton helped Walters first with his legal problems, and then allowed the fighter to live in his boxing gym when he was homeless.
Walters also re-connected with his parents, and now says their relationship is strong and they talk on a daily basis, "A lot of my self worth came from drug abusing people" he says, "once I stopped carrying and doing drugs, friends stopped caring." The fighter works with recovering people part-time at a chemical dependency program, and gives inspirational talks to at-risk youth.

Ready to explode on the boxing scene
As far as boxing is concerned, Walters is taking his career serious to the point of training in Florida before fights. He's sparred with Antonio Tarver and says one day, he was getting the best of Tarver after former champ James "Buddy" McGirt gave him tips on how to spar with Tarver. Seeing Tarver's irritation, Walters says in-between rounds, McGirt, who trains Tarver, gave Tarver instructions on how to counter what he was doing and it worked like a charm.
But the biggest influence on Walters, in terms of boxing, has been Arturo Gatti, whom Walters has hung out with at the gym in Florida. Walters, 14-1-11 would tell himself, "'Zach you gotta be undefeated,'" so when he lost his first pro fight in 2004, he was crushed. However, after being around Gatti, Walters learned to measure his boxing career based on performance vs. his record, "You look at Gatti and he has tons of losses but people love him. Why? Because he brings it every night."

Final Bell
Someone once said, "Experience may be a good teacher but it's a slow one." However, Walters needed a slow learning experience because not only did it allow him to integrate the Chinese proverb, "He who ask is a fool for five minutes. He who does not is a fool forever" but the slow experience taught him that if he stuck with the frustration, anger, sadness, resentment, and uncertainty of life, things can and do get better in time.

Editors note: Following the interview, Zach only had the best to say about the story but also asked for a chance to talk about where he has gone since his earlier years. Here is what he had to say..
It was a privilege to get an interview with Ray for the website. The story focused a lot on my delinquent teen years and some of the legal matters that surround who I am today. I don't want to be known to my fans as an ex-junky-criminal because I'm not. I made some poor choices in my day and those are behind me now. Yes, my past is a part of me, but it does not define who I am today. What I have accomplished since those years overshadows the rough times in a big way. In a nut shell: I moved from Madagascar to the US. I got mixed up in gangs, drugs, and crime wile trying to find myself. The result was hitting a rock bottom low where I decided to change the way I was living. Since then I have become a Christian, I am on my way to finishing my college degree, and I have started a promising pro boxing career. These points are the result of a lot of hard work. I believe that God has BIG plans for my life and that is why he helped me out of my struggles. I am proud of where I stand in the boxing community and look forward to fighting for the world title. I have said it before, 'As long as I am boxing my goal is to be a World Champion.' I believe this is a realistic goal.