The Lumberjack faced Luis Torres Valenzuela (21-1, 12 KOs) in a 10-round lightweight bout at the Long Beach Arena on March 8. The Mexican, a dozen years younger, sent the former featherweight world champion to the floor late in the third round. Walters made it to the gong, but was unable to get out of his corner after the break.
During the same evening in California, Joet Gonzalez (27-4, 15 KOs) defeated Ukrainian Arnold Hegay (22-2-1, 14 KOs) by split decision of the judges. The judges gave the following scores: 96-93, 94-95 and 97-92.