by Edward Chaykovsky
According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, middleweight contender Michael Walker (19-19-2, 12KOs) was found shot a gangway earlier this morning on the South Side of Chicago's Chatham neighborhood, according to police. Officers responded about 8:45 a.m. to the 8200 block of South Drexel Boulevard and Walker unresponsive and lying in a gangway. He was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital at 9:31 a.m. Police are investigating.
Walker had faced many of the top contenders at middleweight and junior middleweight, including Danny Jacobs, Matt Korobov, Ricardo Mayorga, Andy Lee, Fernando Guerrero and several other notable names.
When he faced Jacobs in 2009, he was 19-1, but after that loss everything went down hill and he lost his next 17 of 18 bouts.