Phil Williams: Ready for Jungle Boy

Fistic Mystic: First of all, congratulations on a great performance.  You guys put on quite a show.  I hope you got some ice afterwards!

Phil Williams: Oh yeah, a little bit.  I didn’t need much ice though.  My hand is real good.  Doesn’t bother me at all.

Fistic Mystic: Phil, tell me what you thought of your opponent, Antwun Echols.  And did you get a chance to talk to him afterwards?

Phil Williams: Yeah, we talked a little bit.  I was glad he came to fight me.  I hope he’ll come to spar me and help me get ready for my next fight.  He said he appreciated me fighting him clean, and I appreciated him giving me a chance to fight him.  You know, in a way I was glad that Jaidon Codrington dropped out.  Because when he gets hit his whole body gets weak and he falls apart.  Echols gave me a much better fight than I think Codrington would have.

Echols his me with a good punch in the fourth round but I was more tired than hurt.  I’ve never been in a fight like that before, where we kept going back and forth like that.  But now I have, and it felt good!

Fistic Mystic: Now we have to talk about Zach Walters.

Phil Williams: He don’t want no part of me.  It isn’t personal, Zach is a nice guy, and I always say that every time I talk about him.  But he don’t want me.  He’s running scared.

Fistic Mystic: Have you heard what they’re saying up in Duluth now?  According to Todd at Mnboxingleague.com, Chuck Horton and Jungle Boy are on board.  They want this fight to happen, too.  But now, if it’s a state light heavyweight title fight, they’re probably going to claim the right to defend in their hometown.  Would you be willing to go to Duluth to fight him?

Phil Williams: That fight doesn’t deserve to be in Duluth.  Even though I could come up there and knock him out in his back yard, that fight needs to be in Minneapolis.  That fight should be at the Target Center.  Let’s get the biggest crowd we can get, and that isn’t going to happen in Duluth.  I don’t have a specific home territory where I fight at.  The casual fan wants to see this fight.  Jungle Boy and I, as fighters we need to make this fight happen.  We’ll be cheating the Minnesota boxing fans if we don’t fight.

The Fistic Mystic says (part 1): Both The Drill and the Jungle Boy are moving down from light heavyweight to super middleweight.  Both men say that super middle is their natural weight, and as Williams is pleased to point out, he outraced Walters to their new division.  So why would the Minnesota light heavyweight title need to be at stake in a meeting between the two?  It would make more sense for them to fight for the (presumably) vacant Minnesota super middleweight title.  Then there would be no point in making the fight in Duluth.

The Fistic Mystic Says (part 2): Williams is self-managed, so he wants Chuck Horton or Zach Walters to contact him directly to begin negotiations for a fight.  Chuck and Zach, if you don’t have Williams’ phone number, please contact me and I’ll give it to you.  You both have my email address.

Phil Williams Talks About Jaidon Codrington

Phil Williams was scheduled to face undefeated Reggie LaCrete on April 18 at Target Center, but LaCrete had to pull out when he broke a tooth a week before the fight and was advised by a doctor that he shouldn’t fight or even train for a month.  What happened next has been well reported, but it bears repeating.  A replacement opponent named Chance Western was brought in, but when Williams saw Western at the weigh-in he declined to fight him on the basis that it would be unsporting for him (Williams) to beat up a smaller and less experienced man (Western).  The day after the fight card at Target Center it was reported by Jesse Kelley that Williams would sign to fight Jaidon Codrington at Grand Casino Hinckley on June 5, and so it has happened.

Phil Williams shares some thoughts about his upcoming fight.

Fistic Mystic: How long have you known about the Codrington fight?  Was it on the table before your fight with Reggie LaCrete bombed out?

Phil Williams: I was hoping that I was going to get him, but I didn’t know I was going to get it this soon. So that was surprising to me, when I got that contract and signed it, that was beautiful.

Phil Williams

FM: Jesse Kelley reported that you’ve had your eye on Codrington ever since you were an amateur. Why is that? Is it something stylistic about him, the desire to beat a big name, or something else?

PW: I met him in an elevator in Kansas City when we were both amateurs and he acted like I was some little dude or something. He tried to play like I was a little middleweight when we both were light heavyweights. It’s little, just some small stuff that helped me grow. Nothing big, just something I use to motivate myself.

FM: So what do you think of Codrington, and what do you think of this fight?

PW: He’s not that fast, but he does a good job of staying busy. He’s a puncher but to me he’s not a power puncher. I’m going to do something different than he’s seen on Youtube, so I hope he’s watching those clips on Youtube. ‘Cause that ain’t gonna be me.

FM: Thanks for talking to me, Phil. I’ll see you at Hinckley on June fifth.

PW: Oh, it’s going to be a full house. It’s going to be fun!

Phil Williams: All Healed Up

Phil Williams confirms to the Fistic Mystic that his hand is healed and he’s ready to get back in the prizefighting ring.

The 9-1 (9 kayos) light heavyweight from north Minneapolis says that he’s back in the gym, hitting the heavy bag.  “It’s doing good now.  I’ve had the pin taken out and I have no restrictions.”  His doctor, Jeffrey Husband of Tria Orthopedic, has told him that he should have full movement and no pain, and because his hand was never casted, “it never stopped moving and it never got weak.”  So Dr. Husband has not recommended any therapy.

Williams, who still works out at Uppercut Boxing Gym in northeast Minneapolis, says that he just learned a few days ago that he’s been penciled in for a fight card in the Twin Cities in February.  Does he know who his opponent might be?  “I sure don’t.  I just found this out myself.”

Asked whether he had any other news for his fans, Williams said only, “09 is my year.”

About Dr. Husband: http://www.tria.com/find_doctor_bio.aspx?individualid=56

Profile: “Jungle Boy” Zach Walters (Part 2)

Attempting to rebound after a shocking loss to Shawn Hammack on August 31, Zach Walters was scheduled to fight Cory “The Cobra” Phelps on October 25.  That event, however, has been postponed until November or December.  Walters announced the postponement in an October 15 press release that included this somewhat cryptic statement: “The plan is to make a huge fight card to burst the local boxing scene to a new level.  We hope to keep our fight with Cory Phelps for that date and so far that looks like it will work out.”  The Fistic Mystic is as curious as you are to find out what it all means.  In any case, Phelps’ 13-4 record doesn’t include any significant victories, but as Walters points out, “Phelps is not coming to lose and we can’t count out our fellow boxers that come in to give us a rough night.”  Walters didn’t like it that I called Phelps a tomato can in an earlier article.  “I think it is disrespectful… I am prepared to make sure the fight is a solid win for me, of course, but your comment takes away from the win and leaves the fans to take it for granted.”  He’s absolutely right, and I suppose that I’m guilty as charged.  I’ll have to pull out the old thesaurus and see whether I can find a less insulting euphemism for an opponent with a limited chance to win.

I asked Walters to analyze his boxing style and he described himself as a boxer/puncher, but said “I can drop a big bomb when I need to.”  His strategy is to cater his style to his individual opponent.  His training generally consists of running in the morning and boxing in the afternoon, but he is reticent to reveal too much about his training.  Since turning pro at the age of 21 Walters has fought as a light heavyweight almost exclusively, and plans to stay there – “I feel very comfortable at 175 lbs.”

As he attempts to regain ground that was lost with the defeat to Shawn Hammack, Jungle Boy’s training is taking place in a new setting.  Last spring a fire damaged the building that housed Horton’s Gym and rendered most of the gym’s equipment unusable.  By the end of the summer a new home had been found in downtown Duluth, but in the meantime Horton’s stable of fighters was forced to improvise.  “We trained in a pole barn out of town [until the new location was ready]…the transition was rough, but fighters and trainers hung together. Now we have a new beginning in a nice facility.”

Walters had this to say about his friend and gym mate Andy “Kaos” Kolle.  “Kolle’s last fight was a big opportunity for him. Kaos is the kind of guy that never backs down from a challenge. He stepped in with a guy that is regarded as the pound-for-pound most dangerous fighter. Paul Williams must be everything he is talked up to be because I have known Kolle since we started boxing and I have never seen him hurt like that. I know that if Kolle can see a shot coming he’ll brace himself for it and it won’t hurt him. The hook he got hit with came wide behind his vision. That’s what I think got him. I watched him prepare for the fight. His level of intensity was off the charts. I figured Williams was in for a tough night with KAOS. When it ended as it did I was shocked. Kolle makes no excuses and he is in good spirits. He lost a fight to a two time world champ. His career is very accomplished for having less than 20 fights. He will come back strong as ever before.”

Walters offered a further endorsement of two other Horton’s Gym cohorts: “RJ and Gary are good. They have their own styles and are polar opposites aside from their potential to make some waves in the boxing scene.”  RJ Laase (4-0 with 2 kayos) is known as a smooth and technical boxer, while Gary Eyer (4-0-1 with 3 kayos) is a flamboyant fighter with good power.

One of the very compelling aspects of the Jungle Boy story is his desire to bring a title fight to Africa.  It should come as no great surprise that a young professional athlete wants to ply his trade in front of the hometown folks, and it’s natural that Walters has a persistent vision to bring a title fight to Madagascar.  “Back in 1999 I was in Madagascar with my brother Jake on a mission trip. Before leaving the island for the US we had a chance to visit with many of our friends. My Malagasy was rusty from not using it much in the states, but I had enough vocabulary in order to tell them that I had gotten into boxing and would someday return to Madagascar. At the time I was an amateur boxer. When I turned pro the sport opened up new doors for me. When I won the WBC-African Boxing Union title I thought it would be a great opportunity to line up a title defense in Madagascar. That way I’d fulfill my promise to return and would also get a chance to showcase my boxing.”  That vision may not be on the back burner, exactly, but it isn’t front-and-center at the moment.  Losing is bad in any game, but in prizefighting it’s a calamity.  Usually a fighter who wants to win a major title isn’t allowed to lose at all on his way to the top.

In one of my more presumptuous moments I asked Walters to tell me something he had learned from each of his three professional losses.  His reply to that query was one of the more emphatic responses I got from him.  “The first loss [to 10-2 cruiserweight Robert Linton in 2004] I got ripped off by the judges. I learned not to rely on the judges to get a win. I learned that to win a fight I have to take it away from my opponent. I became more aggressive after that loss and worked on my punching power.  The second loss [to 38-3 Hugo Pineda in 2006] I learned about prefight distractions. I learned that I can’t beat everyone on determination alone. After that fight I focused on my boxing skill to become a better ring general. My trainers worked on giving me more dimensions. I became a better boxer after that fight. This last loss [to 15-6 Shawn Hammack] I learned about dehydration. I was boxing superbly and had the fight in the bag. I don’t feel like was beaten by my opposition. The loss was the result of a fluke punch that found its mark at the right time.  I found out afterward that an element of dehydration is a surge of endorphins. I could feel a cramp developing in the back of my left leg, but didn’t think much of it because I had plenty of energy. Anyway, when I got hit I knew something was way off. I couldn’t shake the punch. Dehydration got me.”

The Fistic Mystic says: The time can’t be too far off when the Jungle Boy will be given an opportunity to step up to the next level.  Here’s hoping that this loquacious young man with the fascinating story will make a major splash in the rapidly evolving light heavyweight division.

Update: Phil “The Drill” Williams

The Fistic Mystic enjoyed a visit with local light heavyweight Phil Williams on Sunday evening.  Here are some of the highlights of that conversation.

On the state of his career: “I’ve been getting away with being part-time until now but that just isn’t going to work.  Up till now I work full-time and train after work, and I didn’t think I was cheating anyone – so the loss to Oliveira was really very lucky for me because it shows me how much I need to improve certain aspects of my game.  I haven’t been as good as I could be.  I thought my training was good enough to get me through, but there are things that just slip by.  Even last night (against Jason Dietrich) I caught myself letting my hands down and (laughs) raising them back up to here!

On his continuing development: “If they (the fans) are excited now, they’re really going to be excited when they see everything else I can do.  My hand speed, my shiftiness, my conditioning; see, my knockout power is only going to be a part of my game.”

Message to Zach Walters: You’re not fighting anyone, really, so don’t say that you’re up here (raises hand to eye level and looks at it) and I’m down here (rests hand on table)…he’s like so many Minnesota fighters, fighting the same recycled guys that everybody else does.  That doesn’t stretch you or teach you anything.  It doesn’t make you grow.”

Toward that end, The Drill fighting the best he can find.  He predicts that “two or three fights down the road” he will fight someone of Oliveira’s caliber again.  He would also like to fight outside of Minnesota soon, partly because the local fight crowd has certain expectations.   “It gets into your head when the crowd is chanting for you to knock the guy out right from the start.”

Here’s the bad news: it is indeed true that Williams broke his right hand in the second round of the Dietrich fight (as initially reported by Jesse Kelly of www.minnesotaboxing.com, and when I met with him it was grotesquely swollen, featuring a subcutaneous lump roughly the size and shape of a raquetball.  Williams says he plans to meet with a specialist in Edina in the next few days, and that surgery is certain to be recommended.  Williams plans to be out for about three months while it heals.

Profile: “Jungle Boy” Zach Walters (Part 1)

“My childhood was a big adventure for me,” the young man begins.  I think to myself, well, whose wasn’t?  He continues, “I was into all sorts of stuff; netting fish, trapping birds…hunting with a slingshot and fighting chameleons with my buddies.”

Welcome to the world of the Jungle Boy.

Professional boxer Zach “Jungle Boy” Walters (23-3 with 18 kayos) was born in Taolagnaro, Madagascar, to missionary parents in February of 1981.  He lived primarily in Madagascar to the age of 12, so his identity is tied as much to Malagasy natives and the tropical climate as it is to white people from the Midwestern United States.  The articulate young man tells more of his own story:

“I left the island when I was 12 years old, so many of my childhood memories are from my time there. Madagascar, to me, was a place that made sense. Most of my buddies were Malagasy. I understood the cultural customs and my place among my native friends. Initially, when my family moved to the states I believed it would be only for a short time. I thought we would be back in the tropics of Africa after this visit to the States. Year after year the return to Madagascar did not happen.  This is when I started to get into trouble and rebel.”  In what ways did he rebel?  “I did everything I could to show I didn’t care. I was a terror in school, I did the opposite of anything my parents said, got into stealing cars, a lot of fighting, and partying.”

Trying to fit in, “I gave organized team sports a try, but was continually frustrated at my inability to catch on to the rules and strategies. At a dead end for options, I found myself at a Taekwondo studio my younger brother, Jake, trained at. I didn’t want to join their club because Jake would be a superior belt to me. This would be unacceptable in my mind so I asked the instructor to teach me how to kick box. After a few weeks of training, and thoroughly getting in the way of regular classes, the instructor mentioned the idea of boxing. I thought it over and figured it was another non-team fight sport so I’d check it out. I did and it was a fit right away.”  It is perhaps difficult to understand how significant this connection was to a young man for whom American team sports seemed just as foreign as American culture

The damage to Jungle Boy’s identity, caused by his displacement from a familiar environment, was soothed when he discovered combat sports.  “If not for boxing, I’m not sure I would have found an identity in the States. Boxing was a fit right away. Even though it took me several years after joining boxing to finally secure my life in order, boxing was something I clung to as a ray of hope that life in the US would be alright after all.”

In spite of the struggles of his youth, Walters remains a committed Christian.  This is one of his more visible personal characteristics.  Yet his faith isn’t as showy or in-your-face as some professional athletes.  “I believe that Jesus has a plan for my life and at this time His plan is for me to be a boxer. I work hard, pray hard, and leave the rest up to Him.”

After a successful amateur career, Walters turned pro out of Horton’s Gym in Duluth, Minnesota in 2002.  “I met Chuck Horton through fighting in the USA Boxing senior’s tournaments. [Andy] Kolle and I got to know Chuck over the years and when I finished high school I wanted to continue boxing. That’s when I made the choice to move to Duluth.  I have lived in the Twin Ports since 2000 and I am now proud to consider it home. I am a proud Duluthian. My boxing career has taken me all over, but at the end of the day I will always come back to Minnesota.”

What does Walters hope to accomplish in his career?  “I hope to win a world title. It seems the commentators don’t give us boxers from the Midwest a shot.  I don’t care. I know that hard work is hard work.  I don’t expect an easy way to be paved out for me.  I have had to get what I have the hard way and expect nothing less for my rise to the top.  I’ll take my scrapes along the way and still forge ahead to reach my goal.  I see these fighters on HBO and Showtime that come from minute counties.  This shows me that toughness does not have a zip code and no matter where you come from you can still make it.  That is my belief and until my career comes to a close that is the way I see it.”

Talking about the future is something Walters will be doing more and more of now.  Recently married, he concedes that having a spouse alters the way he looks at his career.  “Being married didn’t change my life too much, but it did change my outlook on what I do.  When I make a choice I have to think of how it will affect my marriage as well.  Someday I’ll have childen and I have to think about that now so I can be prepared to give [them] the life I want to.”

Walters hopes that his near future includes a world title shot.  “I feel ready for a title shot, but my last fight has served as a temporary setback for me.  I hope to get there in the next two years.  That is my goal.”  The “last fight” to which he refers is his August 31 loss to Shawn Hammack, in which he dominated 7+ rounds of action but was shockingly dropped in the eighth and final round by a haymaker.  That fight ended with Walters on the ropes, taking a lot of punishment.  “We were boxing outside on a black top parking lot that was so hot that spectators’ chair legs were melting into the ground….Dehydration is a weird thing.  I didn’t feel fatigued at all.  Actually I felt elated!  I knew I had developed a cramp in my left leg, but didn’t think much of it.  Then I got caught with a solid shot and realized I couldn’t shake the punch off like I had earlier.  That’s when I knew something was off.  After the fight I told my corner I had been feeling a cramp in the back of my left leg since the middle rounds.  They drew the conclusion that I was dehydrated.  Boy was I ever.  I drank seven bottles of water and three 32 oz. Gatorades before I was able to take a whiz.  The ring doc was tempted to get an IV hooked up to me, but we didn’t end up going that far.  I hate needles.”  Walters acknowledges that the loss is an impediment, but takes it as a motivator.  “I’m mad. The ripple effect of a loss in boxing is tough to deal with.”

In part 2 of this profile, Jungle Boy hopes to rebound from an unexpected loss, comments on Andy Kolle’s recent bout with Paul Williams, and shares more thoughts about his pro boxing career.  To be published on Friday, October 17.

Zach Walters versus Phil Williams: No Go (for now)

Let me make it clear right up front that this is only my personal opinion.  I don’t presume to advise either fighter, and realistically, I could be 100% wrong.  Now that that’s out of the way…

Zach Walters

Considering that the two leading light heavyweights in Minnesota lost this weekend, it’s natural to consider the possibility of a matchup between the two.  Zach Walters’ surprising knockout loss to the overmatched Shawn Hammack with 30 seconds to go in their eight-round bout must have knocked the Jungle Boy down a few pegs on the WBC worldwide rankings, but he presumably retains the WBC African Union belt and the NABA regional belt that he won this past winter and spring.  Add to that his still-impressive 23-3 record and an interesting personal history, and Walters is still a saleable commodity.  The fact is, the WBC wasn’t advancing him up the rankings only because of his record, impressive though it was.  The official rankings are also driven by politics and marketing concerns, and as long as Walters avenges the Hammack loss without incident, he should soon find himself back where he was before the unpleasantness of Sunday night.

Phil Williams

Phil Williams came into his fight with Marcus Oliveira as a hot prospect and left as a warm one.  It isn’t as if he lost to a journeyman or a trial horse.  Oliveira is at least as hot a prospect as Williams was.  So two days after the loss to Oliveira, Williams was still thinking big (as he should), and his focus is on a rematch, not on the Minnesota heavyweight title.  Williams admits that he needs to work on some fundamentals that he has been neglecting, not surprising considering that he had won all eight of his professional bouts by knockouts.  With some quality instruction and diligent training you can expect to see Williams resume his climb of the worldwide rankings while continuing to compile Youtube-worthy highlights.

Bear with me for a moment as I attempt some simple logic:

Fact: Both Zach and Phil have their eyes set on something bigger than what the other currently has to offer.

Fact: Each man probably recognizes the risk that the other poses.

Fact: It’s likely that each man poses too great a risk to the other to make the conquest sufficiently rewarding.

The Fistic Mystic says: Don’t hold your breath for Walters -vs- Williams, at least not unless one of the two suffers another loss in the near future.  As things stand right now, they both have a lot going for them and don’t need each other.  For now.

Profile: Phil “The Drill” Williams

Our interview was conducted over the phone, and Phil “The Drill” Williams didn’t answer when I called.  I left a voice mail and waited for him to call back.  When the phone finally did ring, he was apologetic: “Sorry I didn’t call you back right away, but I had to get the kids sat down for supper.”  A fellow dad…I like this guy already.

Introductions and formalities aside, I asked Phil to tell me a little bit about himself.  After all, for all the hype that accompanies his 8-0 (8 kayos) record, little is known about the Drill.  First off, he was born in Queens, New York.  He was named after his mother’s father at Grandpa’s request – it seems Grandpa had no sons, and wanted a namesake.  His mom took him and moved away when he was about six years old, and after some side trips to North Carolina and Chicago, they settled in North Minneapolis not long after.  So Williams is New York bred but Minnesota raised, and that makes him a real Minnesotan.  As a youth Williams says he was always athletic, and he was enthusiastic in his pursuit of basketball and football, but admittedly “didn’t have the grades to participate as a student.”  As a young man he went to barber school and found a good job working in that field.  But then he began to think, he was always a pretty good fighter, how good could he really be?  Pretty good, it turns out.

Williams walked into the now defunct Glover’s Gym in NE Minneapolis (at Lowry and Central), and although he was a late starter, he blossomed right away, winning three state titles (‘03-’05) and two Upper Midwest Golden Gloves titles (‘04 and ‘05) at light heavyweight on his way to compiling an amateur record of 31-4.  He’ll tell you matter-of-factly that he had plenty of power even as an amateur, but he’s had some really spectactular moments as a professional.  Most notably, his destruction of Marcus Upshaw in June (which was posted to YouTube) has gotten him some real attention.  This summer he’s heard from Richard Steele and Buddy McGirt, and even traveled to spar with Andre Dirrell in July.  How did that go?  Williams is both philosophical and cryptic: “That was a good experience…the only thing about it is that when they bring you in to spar, they want you to be sparring partner, not a fighter.  And I’m not a sparring kind of guy; I’m a fighter.”  So was it a good experience?  “Yeah, I learned about techniques and different ways of training and whatnot.  The way they do their sparring and training, and I like to learn other ways of doing things…I want to pick up good things from different people and places.”  Williams is still managed by Chuck and Pete Daskiewicz, and they’ve decided that for now Williams needs to focus on the task at hand, which he is doing.

The task at hand is a headlining appearance on August 29, on the Seconds Out show at Grand Casino Hinckley.  He’ll be facing 13-0-1 (10 kayos) Marcus Oliveira of Lawrence, KS.  I mentioned to Phil that he is wasting no time in going up the ladder.  “No sense in going backwards,” he laughed.  He explained that with his unexpectedly rapid rise in the Boxrec rankings and the attention he’s been getting, he couldn’t see fighting a man with a 4-11 record at this point in his career.  In fact, he had thought for a long time that his goal would be a match with Minnesota’s reigning light heavyweight king Zach “Jungle Boy” Walters (23-2 with 18 kayos) of Duluth, but now he’s focusing on other things.  “I actually wanted to fight Rubin “Mister Hollywood” Williams, and I told Tony G to get him for me, but when Tony called me back and said that Oliveira was available and he’s unbeaten, I agreed to fight him.”  I asked what Williams knows about Oliveira and he deadpanned: “His name.”

By this time in the interview I was thinking that this dude is one of the most earnest, upbeat, and positive people I’ve talked to in boxing, and then he took it to another level.

“I have got a grand plan,” he confided.  “I want to start a DRILL foundation, a DRILL movement.  DRILL is an acronym for Directly Related to the Inner city with Love and Loyalty.”  Here the Drill began to get animated.  “In this part of town young guys give up when they get into trouble, or when they aren’t doing well in school.  They feel like failures, and as a result they get into whatever’s going on around them, they’re misdirected.  But I have some influence, in this neighborhood: when I talk people listen to me.  They come to the shop or they come play basketball with me.  They respect me, I talk to them and they hear positive stuff out of me.  They hear me, and they understand me, but they don’t have the means of doing it.  You can talk about positivity till you’re blue in the face, but when they go home it’s a different reality for them.  So I want to help them find the means to do the good things they want to do.”  How can he do this?  “Through boxing.  Boxing has helped me to find discipline and focus, to really connect with that discipline that I found in the gym, and I want to share the blessings with other people.  I want to open my own gym someday, I’ll call it ‘The Drill Camp,’ and our team will be ‘The Drill Team.’  And we’re gonna have some positive stuff going on.”

The Fistic Mystic says: Phil “The Drill” Williams is a very passionate guy, full of his message and excited about life.  Keep an eye on this man, because he’s headed for big things, both in and out of the ring.

What’s Next for Walters and Kolle?

Following their very pleasing June 7 results, what’s next for “Jungle Boy” Zach Walters and Andy “Kaos” Kolle?

Zach Walters is at a point in his career where he could take one of several courses.  He could:

1. attempt to add prestige to his resume by taking on someone of similar ranking and regard – think Yusaf Mack or a rematch with Hugo Pineda.
2. take a fight with emerging in-state rival Phil “The Drill” Williams, whose record is a dazzling 7-0 with 7 knockouts.  Whispers have begun to circulate that the two may be on a collison course, but that may only be a whispering campaign.
3. continue to pad his record by fighting guys who have only a puncher’s chance; that is, guys like his last three opponents, Jim Strohl, Carl Daniels, and Aaron Norwood.
4. take a shot at the upper reaches of the light heavyweight division by accepting a fight with a top-ten type of guy if such a fight is offered to him or if such an opponent becomes available to him.

The Fistic Mystic says: Walters is in a good position to take advantage of his current ranking and record to generate some real revenue and publicity and is unlikely to want to risk his current standing with a high-risk, low-reward type of fight such as possibilities #1 and #2.  Whether he and his management will opt for #3 or #4 is a question that only time can answer.

Andy Kolle hasn’t quite achieved the level of accomplishment that Walters has, though he should with time and activity.  Who knows, if his scheduled fights in February and April hadn’t been canceled, Kolle might be there now.  But because he isn’t ranked as high and doesn’t have the same name recognition of Walters, Kolle’s path is a little more wide-open.  Kolle could:

1. attempt to add prestige to his resume by taking on someone of similar ranking and regard – in Kolle’s case this could include his main in-state rival, Anthony Bonsante, or someone like former champion Bronco McCart.
2. try to pad his record against the same type of past-their-prime opponents that Walters has feasted on lately.  Think of guys like George Klinesmith or former Matt Vanda conquests Yory Boy Campas and Bruce Rumbolz.
3. tread the usual path of a young prospect and fight other young prospects, young men like Kenny Kost or Gee Cullmer.

The Fistic Mystic says: Kolle proved a lot with his win against Jonathan Reid on Saturday night, in particular he showed that he can throw meaningful punches in bunches, he proved once again that he has a rugged and durable chin, and he demonstrated for the first time that he has what it takes to go ten rounds.  He probably isn’t in the mood to spend much more time proving that he can beat lower-level guys.  It’s possible that Kolle could be pitched to big-time promoters as part of a package deal with Walters, so he may have a built-in opportunity to step up to a higher level of competition; call it advancement by association.

Jungle Boy Zach Walters has a New Opponent for June 7

Sometimes a man’s direction changes unexpectedly even while he treads the path to glory.

In a development that doesn’t seem very sensible to an outsider, Zach Walters has had a change of opponent for his June 7 bout, from a highly regarded contender to an aging retread.  Here’s a case of the numbers not telling the whole story.

The man originally announced as Walters’ opponent for the June 7 event at Wessman Arena in Superior, WI was Rubin Williams.  Williams has a record of 29-4 with 16 knockouts, though he hasn’t won a fight since August of 2006.  But here’s the catch with Williams: he’s spent the last year and a half fighting Antwun Echols, Allan Green, and Andre Ward – three men who share a cumulative record of 60-7-2.  Despite putting up a record of 0-2-1 against those three, Williams is still ranked 77th worldwide among light heavyweights according to www.boxrec.com.  But the somewhat illustrious Williams is no longer listed as Walters’ opponent.

The man whose name now occupies that slot is 40 year old Aaron Norwood.  Norwood’s impressive 25-9-2 (13 kayos) record masks the near futility of his recent career – Norwood’s record since April of 2002 is 4-7, and even though he’s coming off a three-bout win streak, he hasn’t beaten an opponent with a winning record since TKOing Roosevelt Walker in August of 2001.  That’s right, it’s been nearly seven years since Norwood beat a man who was at least mediocre.

It isn’t clear what’s happening with Jungle Boy Walters, but the optimists among us are sure to note that he already has his next date lined up – on August 28 Walters is slated to appear at Fortune Bay Casino in Tower, Minnesota.  Perhaps something is in the works.  Let’s hope for the best.