Darnell Walker (Boxer)
| Darnell Walker | |
|---|---|
 Darnell "The Gladiator" Walker | |
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Darnell Walker |
| Nickname(s) | Gladiator |
| Weight(s) | Middleweight |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Reach | 70 in (178 cm) |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | June 12, 1973 New York |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 2 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Wins by KO | 0 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Darnell Walker (born June 12, 1973 in New York) is an American boxing trainer and Middleweight boxer of Cuban descent.
Early life[edit]
Walker was born in New York and as a baby was transferred to Los Angeles to his foster mother's care, Fannie L. Matthews. He grew up in South Los Angeles alongside his two foster brothers, Tyrone Stewart and Anthony Kyle. Walker was raised in the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Amateur career[edit]
Walker began his martial arts career with Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the age of 18, attending a couple organized tournaments in the Los Angeles area. When he was 22, he met David Snake Blocker, who invited him to his personal tournament sponsored by WKO in Palos Verdes. During that time, Walker was training with Fabela Chavez before switching to Bill Slayton's, Ken Norton and Mickey Rourke's trainer, Broadway Boxing Gym in 1997.[1] While he was training at Broadway Boxing Gym, Slayton gave him advice that has stuck with him, "Don't do it your way, do it the right way."
Coaching career[edit]
Walker first began his coaching career at age 25, and his first main event fighter was Danny Stanislavjevic. As Stanislavjevic's trainer, Walker was able to corner with the brother of Freddie Roach, Pepper Roach. In December 2008, Rico Ramos asked Walker to train him after he suffered a severe hand injury. While Ramos was under Walker's instruction, he went undefeated, capturing the vacant WBO NABO Youth Bantamweight Title by defeating Alejandro Pérez. [2]
After Ramos signed with Al Haymon, Walker decided to co-found the Sweet Science Boxing and MMA Gym in Hawthorne, California where he currently teaches young boxers from the inner city.[3]
Professional career[edit]
On June 21, 2013, Walker began his professional boxing career at the age of 40 in a match against Ulises Sierra at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in San Diego, California. Walker was ultimately defeated in four rounds by TKO.
On October 25, 2013 Walker was a UD loser against Elias Espadas in San Diego, California.
Professional boxing record[edit]
| 0 Wins (0 knockouts, 0 decisions), 2 Losses (1 by knockout, 1 by decision), 0 Draws [4] | |||||||
| Res. | Opponent | Type | Rd | Date | Location | Notes | |
| Loss |  Elias Espadas
|
UD | 4 | 2013-10-25 |  Bing Crosby Hall, San Diego, California, United States
|
||
| Loss | Ulises Sierra
|
TKO | 4 | 2013-06-21 | Four Points Sheraton Hotel, San Diego, California, United States
|
Made professional boxing debut. | |
Philanthropic work[edit]
Having grown up in the rough area of Compton, California and been a former gang member, Walker has worked with a number of inner city charities and charity initiatives. The most notable is his half decade of mentorship at the Challenger’s Boy & Girls Club in South Central Los Angeles, where one of the kids he mentored was Russell Westbrook.
He has also helped launch local programs to benefit the at-risk youths in his neighborhood. The Positive Energy Program helped 12 at-risk South Central high-schoolers who were also gang members stay off the streets. They were provided a place to learn with individual mentorship and stay fit through boxing. “Chad’s Fighting Chance” is another initiative in which coach Darnell has worked with Chad Coleman of The Walking Dead. The initiative was aimed to instill self-confidence and discipline in inner city youths through boxing and MMA.[5]
The Walker Hope Community Center
Walker has been working on opening a youth center near his South Los Angeles neighborhood. The proposed center would serve inner city youths through homework tutoring and boxing/MMA themed physical fitness. Walker wants the center to keep the at-risk youths from the streets and violence, and provide a haven for them where they can build self-confidence and character through fighting.
References[edit]
- ↑ Bill Slayton, 81; Taught Boxers and Children | LA Times. LA Times. Retrieved on 2015-07-01.
- ↑ #1 Ramos in spotlight Friday | Fightnews.com. Fightnews. Retrieved on 2015-07-07.
- ↑ Gym Of The Month: Sweet Science Boxing & MMA | U of MMA
- ↑ Rico Ramos's Professional Boxing Record – BoxRec.com
- ↑ 'Walking Dead' star Chad Coleman talks Richmond charities on Reddit | Richmond Sun Times
External links[edit]
- Champions of the Inner City
- Darnell Walker on Facebook
- Professional boxing record for Darnell Walker from BoxRec Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 23: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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