I've only seen that on black and white clips on YouTube. And in so many ways, through the chants in the crowd, they were chanting: 'Ali,' which I've never seen before. "I really do feel that he was alive that night. "And that was one of the many things that brought my grandfather to life on Saturday night. It was just a crazy, crazy night," he remembers. However, after his custom shorts were not ready in time, it just so happened that the only other shorts he had to fight in were the ones his grandfather had given him.Īnd just having something so closely connected to his grandfather with him for the fight gave him that extra little bit of motivation he needed. Walsh never planned to wear the shorts though they were only initially meant to be an item of memorabilia. When Walsh stepped into the ring for his professional debut, he was wearing an item of clothing he thought might bring him luck.ĭucking under the ropes and into the ring in Oklahoma, Walsh was wearing white Everlast shorts which had previously belonged to Ali and were passed down after he died in 2016. READ: The boxing championships aimed at 'disrupting homophobia, transphobia, hatred in sport' It's just really humbling and it's something that I'm very happy to do." "It's kind of been a funny thing between me, SugarHill (Steward, his trainer) and my strength and conditioning coach, they've been calling me 'The Ghost' because I brought him back. And so I would say it's more pride now and I'm blessed that that's the way it's turned out because it hasn't always been that way."īut in his debut victory, Walsh says he's had fans of his iconic grandfather reaching out to him saying he'd "brought him back to life." So I've really been trying to embrace it. But I cannot run from it, especially in the sport I'm in now. and I was just running from the name so much. "And I've just recently started to embrace the name because I've been hiding from it for so long. And it's really annoying at times but that's how it's been," the 21-year-old told CNN.
"I've always felt the need to be on my best behavior. However, Walsh didn't let that pressure get to him as he won his professional debut, beating Jordan Weeks with a first-round stoppage at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Catoosa, Oklahoma, in August.Īnd ahead of his second bout on Saturday, October 23 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Walsh told CNN that he is finally starting to embrace the pressure that has been there his "whole life" being related to Ali. Not only did his association with Ali bring attention, but as an aspiring boxer, being the grandson of one of the greatest to ever step into the ring brought pressure and expectations. It is just a face of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.īut questions arose when people asked about his connection to the great man - he is his grandson.
Nico Ali Walsh used to wear a jacket to cover the tattoo on his forearm to avoid drawing attention to it.
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