The grandson of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, Nico Ali will be making his professional boxing debut this summer. Nico Ali has signed with Top Rank, the promoting company run by his grandfather’s former promoter Bob Arum.
“I am honoured to continue the fighting legacy that my grandfather started. It’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly,” said Nico Ali Walsh
“Unfortunately, well, fortunately for me, actually, I’ve had to live with this pressure my whole life. So whether it’s boxing or school or anywhere in life, I’m always compared to my grandfather. Obviously, I’m more heavily compared to him if I’m picking the same, exact sport that he was in, but I’ve felt this pressure my whole life. But I feel like every fighter has pressure. So I don’t see it as most people do.”
“But I am in boxing because the legacy is so important to me and that fuels me in boxing. I feel I am able to do certain things that I would otherwise not be able to do had it not been for the legacy that I have,” he had told Top Rank BoxinI have to go with focus again. I’m a big fan of fighters who have extreme determination and focus because it’s not easy. Boxing is 90 percent mental and I’m sure the greatest boxers of all time would tell you that,” He added.
Nico Ali Walsh signs with American promoter Bob Arum
Bob Arum has promoted Muhammad Ali and now he’ll advance the journey of Ali’s grandson. Arum first worked with Ali in 1966. He promoted 27 of Muhammad Ali’s fights including the Thrilla in Manila. The most famous fight Arum promoted was between Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975, which is widely considered the greatest fight of all time.
According to ESPN, Top Rank will be putting on the first fight of Nico Ali Walsh’s career on Aug. 14 as part of the undercard of the Andrew Moloney-Joshua Franco fight.
The pressure is not upholding the legacy of the greatest boxer of all time. The pressure is of continuing the legacy of my grandfather, someone so important to me, who was the patriarch of my family.
Bob Arum on Muhammad Ali’s grandson
(He’s a) Lovely, lovely kid. Very, very well-spoken and we’ve had him training with Sugarhill Steward, who is Tyson’s trainer, and he said the kid has the ability.
“We’re going to start him on the road and you’ll see the fight over in the UK. It’s on August 14, and he’ll be on that card. Then we’ll bring him hopefully to Madison Square Garden, where his grandfather excelled and we can show him in the Garden.” Arum told Skysports
