By Arne K. Lang
“The legend lives on,” intones ring announcer Mark Shinock by way of introducing Nico Ali Walsh. As boxing fans know, Walsh is the grandson of Muhammad Ali who during his storied career as a boxer and activist became the most recognizable man on the planet.
A middleweight, Ali Walsh boasts an 11-1-1 record (10-1 per boxrec). Top Rank, his promoter, has brought him along slowly. He has never fought more than eight rounds and his last three bouts have been slated for six.
Nico’s third pro fight was in the big room at Madison Square Garden where his grandfather fought Joe Frazier in the “Fight of the Century,” not the first prizefight to be garnished with this tagline, but the first to be so acclaimed both before and after the fact.
It was Nico’s first trip to New York and he was struck by all the strangers that wanted to shake his hand. “They were mostly older people who told me that they used to sit with their dad and watch my grandfather fight on TV,” says Nico. According to Top Rank publicist emeritus Lee Samuels who was assigned to chaperone Ali Walsh on this trip, many were misty-eyed upon meeting him, overcome with the emotion one feels when reflecting on a lost loved one.
There was more of the same in Miami Beach, a city that also factored large in the life history of Muhammed Ali, and, on a visit to the West African nation of Guinea, he was reminded again that his grandfather achieved a level of fame above that of “ordinary” famous people. “In Guinea, even the little kids knew who my grandfather was,” he says. (During his trip to Guinea in December of last year, Nico fought a 9-2-1 Frenchman, Noel Lafargue, winning a six-round split decision. Although the match was staged as part of a WBA KO Drugs convention and snippets of it can be found on YouTube, it isn’t recognized by boxrec, boxing’s “official record keeper,” a situation unlikely to be rectified anytime soon as boxrec has had a falling-out with the WBA; in case you hadn’t noticed, boxrec has scrubbed WBA titles from its data base.)
Miami Beach, where his grandfather dethroned Sonny Liston in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, was the site of Ali Walsh’s last pro fight wherein he avenged his lone defeat, winning a unanimous decision over Sona Akale, a 36-year-old campaigner of Cameroonian descent from Minneapolis who, with his well-defined physique, looked every inch a prizefighter. Late in the fourth round, Nico dislocated his left shoulder. His corner popped it back in but it came out again and Nico finished the match in excruciating pain.
The fight was close and there were boos as Nico was addressing the crowd from the ring in his post-fight interview. Being the son or grandson of a famous fighter is a double-edged sword. It enhances one’s marketability but comes with expectations that can be unrealistically high.
Having just gutted out a tough win, Nico was plainly perturbed by the crowd’s reaction. He took the occasion to push back at comments by Teofimo Lopez to the effect that he took up boxing only because he was desperate for money and fame. “If I wanted to,” he said, “I could be a millionaire right now. I turned down a multi-million offer [to fight Jake Paul.]…I want folks to know that I’m not part of that circus league of boxing.”
Ali Walsh elaborated when we caught up with him this past Wednesday at the Top Rank Gym. The offer from MVP Promotions, Jake Paul’s company, did not come directly to him but to his promoter Top Rank which had a fiduciary responsibility to run it past him. “I don’t remember the exact figure, but it was like three million. It had a ridiculous rematch clause. If I beat him, he would be able to weigh like twenty pounds heavier the next time. That tells you right there that he knows he couldn’t beat me. Paul’s greatest achievement is convincing people he’s worth watching. If I had taken his offer, I couldn’t respect myself. Once you get into that influencer circuit, it’s hard to get out. That’s not the career I want. My goal when I got into this sport was to win a world title and build a boxing legacy.”
If Nico fails to reach that goal, it won’t be for lack of trying. “I don’t have any hobbies and I don’t party,” he says. “When I am not in the gym, I’m hanging out at home.” Frank Stea, who manages the Top Rank Gym, can testify to Nico’s steadfastness: “Even when his arm was in a sling, he was here 3-4 days a week staying in shape.”
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Nico Ali Walsh was born in Chicago but was still in pre-school when his parents moved to Las Vegas after his father Robert Walsh accepted a position as an executive chef at a major Strip resort. A former Marine raised on the South Side of Chicago, Walsh, who is Italian on his mother’s side, previously operated an Italian restaurant in a Chicago suburb.
Nico’s brother Biaggio, two years older, was an outstanding running back at perennial national high school football powerhouse Bishop Gorman. As a gridder, Biaggio flamed out after stints at the University of California and at UNLV and is currently pursuing a career in MMA with a sideline as an actor and model. In high school, Nico tried his hand at football, but quit after a few practices. “I could tell the sport wasn’t for me,” he says.
Nico was in college at UNLV when he launched his pro career. His fifth pro fight, his first in Las Vegas, came during finals week of his senior year. He graduated with a degree in business administration.
When the Walsh family settled in Las Vegas, they discovered that the hip hop artist and reality TV star Flavor Flav lived in the same neighborhood. A founding member of the rap group Public Enemy, Flavor Flav would become a close friend of the Walsh family and Nico’s biggest booster. “What people don’t know,” says Nico, “is that Flav actually introduced me to boxing when he took me to Devin Haney’s old gym.”
Does Nico have a hit list, a list of the boxers that he hopes to meet some day? “Not yet,” he says. “Realistically, a title shot likely wouldn’t come for another three years or so. I can’t pinpoint anyone because we don’t know where they will be in three years.” But Nico has been targeted by the management of Australia’s Tszyu brothers who recently reiterated that they were eyeing Ali Walsh as a potential opponent for Nikita when the younger Tszyu brother finally makes his U.S. debut.
Nico wasn’t aware of this fact. He hasn’t been following Nikita’s career and knows little about Nikita’s legendary father. But it’s doubtful the proposal escaped the gaze of Top Rank’s Hall of Fame matchmakers Bruce Trampler and Brad Goodman. (Nikita Tszyu fought earlier this week, headlining a pay-per-view show in Australia, and while he advanced his record to 10-0, he had some rough patches, suggesting that he was far from a finished project.)
Nico Ali Walsh vs. Nikita Tszyu would be an easy sell because of their respective pedigrees. Moreover, it’s worth noting that the great junior welterweight Kostya Tszyu won his first title in Las Vegas and finished his training for that bout at the Top Rank Gym.
Nico’s post-fight interview after the Akale rematch likely struck some people as petulant. But if they felt that way, they mischaracterized him. Respectful of his elders and invariably cordial when approached by strangers, there isn’t a pompous bone in his body. No matter what he accomplishes on his boxing journey, his grandfather would be proud.
“The legend lives on,” intones ring announcer Mark Shinock by way of introducing Nico Ali Walsh. As boxing fans know, Walsh is the grandson of Muhammad Ali who during his storied career as a boxer and activist became the most recognizable man on the planet.
A middleweight, Ali Walsh boasts an 11-1-1 record (10-1 per boxrec). Top Rank, his promoter, has brought him along slowly. He has never fought more than eight rounds and his last three bouts have been slated for six.
Nico’s third pro fight was in the big room at Madison Square Garden where his grandfather fought Joe Frazier in the “Fight of the Century,” not the first prizefight to be garnished with this tagline, but the first to be so acclaimed both before and after the fact.
It was Nico’s first trip to New York and he was struck by all the strangers that wanted to shake his hand. “They were mostly older people who told me that they used to sit with their dad and watch my grandfather fight on TV,” says Nico. According to Top Rank publicist emeritus Lee Samuels who was assigned to chaperone Ali Walsh on this trip, many were misty-eyed upon meeting him, overcome with the emotion one feels when reflecting on a lost loved one.
There was more of the same in Miami Beach, a city that also factored large in the life history of Muhammed Ali, and, on a visit to the West African nation of Guinea, he was reminded again that his grandfather achieved a level of fame above that of “ordinary” famous people. “In Guinea, even the little kids knew who my grandfather was,” he says. (During his trip to Guinea in December of last year, Nico fought a 9-2-1 Frenchman, Noel Lafargue, winning a six-round split decision. Although the match was staged as part of a WBA KO Drugs convention and snippets of it can be found on YouTube, it isn’t recognized by boxrec, boxing’s “official record keeper,” a situation unlikely to be rectified anytime soon as boxrec has had a falling-out with the WBA; in case you hadn’t noticed, boxrec has scrubbed WBA titles from its data base.)
Miami Beach, where his grandfather dethroned Sonny Liston in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, was the site of Ali Walsh’s last pro fight wherein he avenged his lone defeat, winning a unanimous decision over Sona Akale, a 36-year-old campaigner of Cameroonian descent from Minneapolis who, with his well-defined physique, looked every inch a prizefighter. Late in the fourth round, Nico dislocated his left shoulder. His corner popped it back in but it came out again and Nico finished the match in excruciating pain.
The fight was close and there were boos as Nico was addressing the crowd from the ring in his post-fight interview. Being the son or grandson of a famous fighter is a double-edged sword. It enhances one’s marketability but comes with expectations that can be unrealistically high.
Having just gutted out a tough win, Nico was plainly perturbed by the crowd’s reaction. He took the occasion to push back at comments by Teofimo Lopez to the effect that he took up boxing only because he was desperate for money and fame. “If I wanted to,” he said, “I could be a millionaire right now. I turned down a multi-million offer [to fight Jake Paul.]…I want folks to know that I’m not part of that circus league of boxing.”
Ali Walsh elaborated when we caught up with him this past Wednesday at the Top Rank Gym. The offer from MVP Promotions, Jake Paul’s company, did not come directly to him but to his promoter Top Rank which had a fiduciary responsibility to run it past him. “I don’t remember the exact figure, but it was like three million. It had a ridiculous rematch clause. If I beat him, he would be able to weigh like twenty pounds heavier the next time. That tells you right there that he knows he couldn’t beat me. Paul’s greatest achievement is convincing people he’s worth watching. If I had taken his offer, I couldn’t respect myself. Once you get into that influencer circuit, it’s hard to get out. That’s not the career I want. My goal when I got into this sport was to win a world title and build a boxing legacy.”
If Nico fails to reach that goal, it won’t be for lack of trying. “I don’t have any hobbies and I don’t party,” he says. “When I am not in the gym, I’m hanging out at home.” Frank Stea, who manages the Top Rank Gym, can testify to Nico’s steadfastness: “Even when his arm was in a sling, he was here 3-4 days a week staying in shape.”
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Nico Ali Walsh was born in Chicago but was still in pre-school when his parents moved to Las Vegas after his father Robert Walsh accepted a position as an executive chef at a major Strip resort. A former Marine raised on the South Side of Chicago, Walsh, who is Italian on his mother’s side, previously operated an Italian restaurant in a Chicago suburb.
Nico’s brother Biaggio, two years older, was an outstanding running back at perennial national high school football powerhouse Bishop Gorman. As a gridder, Biaggio flamed out after stints at the University of California and at UNLV and is currently pursuing a career in MMA with a sideline as an actor and model. In high school, Nico tried his hand at football, but quit after a few practices. “I could tell the sport wasn’t for me,” he says.
Nico was in college at UNLV when he launched his pro career. His fifth pro fight, his first in Las Vegas, came during finals week of his senior year. He graduated with a degree in business administration.
When the Walsh family settled in Las Vegas, they discovered that the hip hop artist and reality TV star Flavor Flav lived in the same neighborhood. A founding member of the rap group Public Enemy, Flavor Flav would become a close friend of the Walsh family and Nico’s biggest booster. “What people don’t know,” says Nico, “is that Flav actually introduced me to boxing when he took me to Devin Haney’s old gym.”
Does Nico have a hit list, a list of the boxers that he hopes to meet some day? “Not yet,” he says. “Realistically, a title shot likely wouldn’t come for another three years or so. I can’t pinpoint anyone because we don’t know where they will be in three years.” But Nico has been targeted by the management of Australia’s Tszyu brothers who recently reiterated that they were eyeing Ali Walsh as a potential opponent for Nikita when the younger Tszyu brother finally makes his U.S. debut.
Nico wasn’t aware of this fact. He hasn’t been following Nikita’s career and knows little about Nikita’s legendary father. But it’s doubtful the proposal escaped the gaze of Top Rank’s Hall of Fame matchmakers Bruce Trampler and Brad Goodman. (Nikita Tszyu fought earlier this week, headlining a pay-per-view show in Australia, and while he advanced his record to 10-0, he had some rough patches, suggesting that he was far from a finished project.)
Nico Ali Walsh vs. Nikita Tszyu would be an easy sell because of their respective pedigrees. Moreover, it’s worth noting that the great junior welterweight Kostya Tszyu won his first title in Las Vegas and finished his training for that bout at the Top Rank Gym.
Nico’s post-fight interview after the Akale rematch likely struck some people as petulant. But if they felt that way, they mischaracterized him. Respectful of his elders and invariably cordial when approached by strangers, there isn’t a pompous bone in his body. No matter what he accomplishes on his boxing journey, his grandfather would be proud.