• Obituary Muhammad Ali, myth and legend of world boxing, dies

"Who were you thinking of when you got into the ring?" An

ESPN

journalist asked the

21-year-old boxer last Saturday, just as he had just won his first professional fight by technical KO.

Everyone knew the answer.

And, in fact, that answer, only that answer, justified that a television network like

ESPN

was broadcasting the debut of a stranger up to that moment live throughout the United States.

"Obviously about my grandfather, I thought about him a lot. I miss him. It was a very emotional fight," answered

Nico Ali Walsh,

and immediately unleashed nostalgia: his story appeared in the media around the world and his followers on social networks soared.

No one in boxing can resist hearing the name of

Muhammad Ali again

.

Although, as her aunt Laila Ali's career has already shown, that can be as good as it is bad.

Because, on the one hand, Ali Walsh has all the doors open, but on the other ...

Ali Walsh is the son of

Robert Walsh

, a renowned chef, and

Rasheda Ali

, daughter of the most famous boxer of all time and surely for that reason contrary to the little one following tradition. Like his older brother

Biaggio

, 'running back' looking for a place in the NFL, Rasheda expected Nico to play football or, failing that, basketball, baseball, hockey or any sport other than boxing. But he did not succeed. His warnings about the pressure he would be subjected to if he stepped into a ring or even the memory of Ali's illness from the beatings did not matter.

Ali Walsh

, born and raised in Las Vegas, wanted to be a boxer and he already is a boxer.

"I have never been able to escape being the grandson of who I am, even if I played soccer. Now I am beginning to accept his legacy, no matter where I am going to go. I will be stronger when I accept what I am destined to do," declared the young man in an interview with the

New York Times

, that is, in another example of the oversize of his beginnings.

Like the Everlast sponsorship, which has supported you before you turned pro.

Like his contract with Top Rank, the promoter of Bob Arum, Don King's great rival in the offices during the eighties and nineties.

Arum became known in 1966 when organizing the fight between

Ali

and

George Chuvalo

and now he will try to make the grandson of his former client a star, although that will be difficult.

A path under the spotlight

As

Mike Joyce

, Ali Walsh's uncle and manager,

recently admitted

, he will not be able to follow a normal evolution. Young boxers usually have their first blank fights, against low-level rivals and in an arena with hardly any fans. Ali Walsh, on the other hand, from the beginning will be part of evenings with national coverage and in large venues.

You will do well to "accept the legacy" of your grandfather and, in fact, you have already shown proof of it. In his debut he wore white shorts that his grandfather had given him and he almost always trains with T-shirts with the name Muhammad Ali on the chest. His manager, Joyce, came to think that he could be taking advantage of his last name just to get fame, but, as he explained, when last year he saw him preparing with veteran coach

Abel Sánchez

- who took

Gennady Golovkin

, for example - he began to take it seriously.

"The sky's the limit. I can't wait to get back in the gym and keep learning," Ali Walsh told

USA Today

with closed dates on his calendar. On October 23 he will play his second fight in Atlanta and on December 11 he will appear for the first time among the majesty of Madison Square Garden in New York. Former rivals of his grandfather such as

George Foreman

or

Larry Holmes

have already praised him in various media and have even predicted him fighting for a world middleweight title "in less than two years."

His career, with an important promoter, with a strong sponsor and with a certain talent seems launched, although neither fame nor sporting success will prevent him from having to answer more times to the great question of his debut: "Who were you thinking about when you Did you get in the ring? "

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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