Zach Walters, alias ''Jungle Boy'', (born February 4, 1981) is an American former professional

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom *Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe eel, ...

who competed from 2002 to 2009, holding the

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Et ...

and NABA

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruis ...

titles. Walters is now a boxing trainer and promoter. He owns the Jungle Boy Boxing Gym, a non-profit organization in Duluth and promotes fights as Jungle Boy Fights.

Personal life

Zach Walters was born in

Taolagnaro Fort-Dauphin (Malagasy Tolagnaro or Taolagnaro) is a city (''commune urbaine'') on the southeast coast of Madagascar. It is the capital of the Anosy Region and of the Taolagnaro District. It has been a port of local importance since the early 1500 ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, and spent the first eleven years of his life in the country as the son of missionary parents. He now calls

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

his home.

Professional career

Walters' professional career began on June 7, 2002 with a first round TKO victory over Lonzie Pembleton. The fight was part of a show staged at

Wade Stadium Wade Stadium is a baseball park located near the intersection of Grand Avenue and 34th Avenue West in the West Duluth neighborhood of Duluth, Minnesota. The stadium was built in 1941 and holds 4,200 people. It is the home of the Duluth Huskies ...

in Duluth, Minnesota. After five wins to open his career, Walters suffered his first career loss to

Robert Linton The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

by unanimous decision. Another victory for the 'Jungle Boy' earned a shot at the vacant Minnesota Light Heavyweight State Title, where Walters (7-1) defeated Marty Lindquist (11-3) by Round 2 TKO. Walters strung together ten-straight wins before losing again to

Hugo Pineda Hugo Pineda (born 10 May 1962) is a Mexican former footballer. He played in 16 matches for the Mexico national football team from 1987 to 1997. He was also part of Mexico's squad for the 1997 Copa América Bolivia hosted the Copa América fo ...

(38-3-1) in November 2006. Walters soldiered on and after six-consecutive wins to earn a shot at the vacant African light-heavyweight title. Walters' original announced opponent was

Marlon Hayes Marlon is a masculine given name. According to the '' Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', the popularity of Marlon Brando led to general awareness of the name (his father was also named Marlon), though the origin of the name is not known. Speculati ...

, but Hayes pulled out and was replaced by veteran

Carl Daniels Carl Bryant Daniels (born August 26, 1970 in St. Louis, Missouri), is an American professional boxer in the Light Middleweight (154 lb) division. He held the WBA Light Middleweight title in 1995. Amateur Southpaw Daniels won the junior world ...

(50-11-1). The fight took place on February 23, 2008 and resulted in an 8th round TKO win for Walters. On June 7, 2008 Walters defeated

Aaron Norwood According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek ( Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother ...

by second round knockout. In so doing, Walters claimed his second regional title, the vacant NABA United States Light Heavyweight belt. The victory improved Walters pro record to 23-2. In August 2008 Walters lost to tough journeyman

Shawn Hammack Shawn may refer to: *Shawn (given name) *Shawn (surname) See also * Sean * Shaun Shaun is an anglicized spelling of the Irish name Seán. Alternative spellings include Shawn, Sean and Shawne. Notable persons with the given name include: Peo ...

(16-6-2) in a bout that he seemed to be well on his way to winning, getting caught in the final round and stopped with 30 seconds to go. Another loss followed to

Byron Mitchell Byron Deangelo-Tarone Mitchell (born October 31, 1973) is an American former professional boxer who fought from 1996 to 2012. He was the Lineal and two-time WBA super middleweight champion, winning the titles in 1999 and 2001. Amateur career ...

(26-4-1) in February 2009 for the NABA United States Light Heavyweight title. Walters returned four months later to win in Duluth, but after a December 2009 loss to Larry Sharpe by 1st round TKO he announced his retirement. Walters' career record was 24-5 with 19 wins by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

References

External links

*
Jungle Boy Boxing Gym
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Zach 1981 births Living people American male boxers Light-heavyweight boxers African Boxing Union champions Boxers from Minnesota People from Anosy Sportspeople from Duluth, Minnesota