{"id":8035,"date":"2024-05-01T08:06:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T08:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/?p=8035"},"modified":"2024-05-01T08:06:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T08:06:00","slug":"nico-ali-walsh-on-grandfather-muhammad-alis-boxing-lessons-and-his-undefeated-streak-i-was-born-for-this-vu-thuy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/nico-ali-walsh-on-grandfather-muhammad-alis-boxing-lessons-and-his-undefeated-streak-i-was-born-for-this-vu-thuy\/","title":{"rendered":"N\u0456\u0441o Al\u0456 W\u0430l\u0455h on Gr\u0430ndf\u0430ther Muh\u0430mm\u0430d Al\u0456’\u0455 Box\u0456ng Le\u0455\u0455on\u0455 \u0430nd H\u0456\u0455 Undefe\u0430ted Stre\u0430k: \u2018I W\u0430\u0455 Born for Th\u0456\u0455\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

No matter what, boxing was always going to be part of Nico Ali Walsh\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\"I'm<\/p>\n

But luckily, the 23-year-old grandson of the late legendary fighter Muhammad Ali has always loved the sport, as well as his family\u2019s deep ties to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born for this,\u201d Walsh tells PEOPLE. \u201cI feel like it was my calling \u2014 my destiny \u2014 and I feel like I want to take the same path he did, where I’m boxing not just because I love it but I\u2019m using it as a platform to change people’s lives and be just like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, Walsh has proven unbeatable \u2014 although, if you ask him whether he might be as good as his grandfather, it will only get you a laugh. Ali\u2019s grandson is 8-0-1 with five knockouts since he turned professional in 2021.<\/p>\n

That may very well change this Saturday when Walsh squares off with Sona Akale (7-1-0) at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Okla. The matchup has been described as Walsh\u2019s toughest challenge yet and will take place on the undercard of Top Rank Boxing\u2019s next show on ESPN. (Walsh\u2019s fight will air on ESPN+ streaming platform before the event begins at 10:30 ET.)<\/p>\n

Whatever the future holds, Walsh has felt \u201camazing\u201d since turning pro two years ago. \u201cEvery fight, I\u2019m showing a lot of improvement,\u201d the young boxer says. \u201cI\u2019m just learning quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also had quite the head start, learning from his grandfather \u2014 simply known as \u201cThe Greatest\u201d \u2014 since an early age.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spoke on boxing all the time,\u201d Walsh says, thinking back to some of his earliest memories, which were with his grandfather inside a boxing ring. \u201cEvery time I was with him, I was watching his fights with him. Like, I would pull it up on YouTube on my phone and we\u2019d watch his fights, and then we\u2019d work on my sparring. I got so many tips from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

His older brother Biaggio is an amateur MMA fighter, but Walsh followed directly in Muhammad Ali\u2019s path.<\/p>\n

Stylistically, Walsh tries to approach fights with the speed and technical work his grandfather was known for while mixing in a bit of Mike Tyson-esque tenacity. He also avoids drinking and smoking just like his grandfather did to stay sharp.<\/p>\n

\"Jordan<\/p>\n

In the ring, Walsh doesn\u2019t try to emulate his grandfather very often, but sometimes the unavoidable similarities squeak out.<\/p>\n

The Chicago native says he shares the same sense of humor his grandfather had and, a handful of times, he\u2019s even been teased by trainers for displaying the same mannerisms as his grandfather. Once, he laughs now, Walsh says he pulled out his grandfather\u2019s famous \u201cshuffle\u201d celebration after knocking out an opponent who talked too much trash.<\/p>\n

Usually, Walsh\u2019s opponents err towards passing along their respects to his family rather than using his background against him \u2014 which makes sense given Muhammad Ali\u2019s reputation as a boxer and person, his grandson says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, the greatest thing about him is that he was the same person on and off the camera,\u201d Walsh smiles. \u201cHe was just very caring, especially for someone who was so world renowned. He would meet literal kings and queens, presidents and stuff, and he would treat them the same as a waiter at a restaurant. That was what was special about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nico<\/p>\n

Walsh has always hoped to carry his grandfather\u2019s best qualities with him, regardless of how his own boxing career panned out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve always looked up to my grandfather so much,\u201d Walsh says. \u201cIf he was an astronaut, I would have wanted to become an astronaut. He’s been my hero my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as for the pressure that comes with being an Ali? Walsh says he\u2019s not alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandfather was, I believe, truly the greatest boxer of all time, still to this day,\u201d Walsh says. \u201cSo, anyone who’s in boxing is in the shadow of my grandfather. It’s not just me. And even though I’m in that shadow, it’s an amazing shadow to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter what, boxing was always going to be part of Nico Ali Walsh\u2019s life. But luckily, the 23-year-old grandson of the late legendary fighter Muhammad Ali… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8035"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8035"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8038,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8035\/revisions\/8038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}