NEW YORK: Biaggio Ali Walsh takes up a fight when someone wants to see if the grandson of “The Greatest” was any good himself.
Muhammad Ali is one of the greatest and most famous fighters in boxing history, and he still rings a bell. Biaggio Ali Walsh will have to prove the grandson of “The Greatest” was equally good himself.
Children in Las Vegas, Nevada found out he was also the grandfather of Biaggio and his brother Nico, they asked the siblings to put on the gloves and accept their challenge.
“People would find out who me and Nico were related to and say, ‘Oh, you can fight?’ Ali Walsh said, “And I said, “I don’t know.
The answer is now a resounding yes.
Ali Walsh is going in the ring Wednesday at Madison Square Garden with his next bout on the Professional Fighters League card.
Five fights into his MMA career, it will be the second time he competes in the arena where his grandfather participated in some of her most memorable events. Ali lost to Joe Frazier in the 1971 “Fight of the Century” there, but won his next seven matches, including a rematch with Frazier, and was the guest referee at the first Wrestlemania.
Ali Walsh fought on his first PFL card at MSG, just as his opponent was subjected to a historic situation.
“I was super nervous but I went in there and stayed calm, I just got the job done and that’s how I want to be in every fight,” said Ali Walsh.
Ali Walsh (4-1) is still fighting as an amateur and is trying to make up for a somewhat late start to his fighting career.
Two weeks ago, 25 years ago, he definitely lacked the fundamentals of his grandfather, who started boxing at 12 and was just 18 when he won a gold medal in boxing at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Ali Walsh’s plans never included fighting at any age. He was a running back at powerhouse Bishop Gorman High School, scoring 65 touchdowns and rushing for more than 4,500 yards on teams that went 45-0 and won three straight Nevada state championships from 2014-16.
While training to stay in shape as his football career was winding down and working as an intern, he got the urge to join the guys he was helping as a strength and conditioning coach.
“I just saw them putting in all that hard work and I was like, ‘I’m 21, 22 years old, I’m still young, I could do this,'” Ali Walsh said. “Like, I could go for it. I don’t want to be 40 years old and think, ‘Oh, would I be a good fighter?’ Like, I don’t want to have those thoughts and regrets, so I just said, you know what, I’m just going to go for it.”
But since Ali Walsh never wrestled even in high school, he had to learn every aspect of his new sport.
Ali’s body was already too ravaged by Parkinson’s to ever show him his skills—not that the “Ali Shuffle” in the cage against guys who could go to his feet would do much good—so their time together was spent more at dinners and movies. But Ali Walsh was able to catch something by watching old footage.
“Stylistically, my grandfather had such a stinging punch,” Ali Walsh said. “He’s really used his jab to set up a bunch of things and I think one of the biggest things I get from him is how he sets up his right hand with jabs or sets up other combos with jabs. ”
It’s working for Ali Walsh, who has won all three fights on his PFL cards by first-round knockout, including his last fight in June.
He admits he has a lot to cover before fighting for the 1 million prize. Even if he decides to turn pro next year, Ali Walsh said he still doesn’t expect to go straight into the PFL season.
But he’s come a long way from the guy who lost his debut in June 2022, so overcome with nerves and anxiety that he quickly withered and ended up in hospital after the fight, and his family was sure he wouldn’t want another one.
He has progressed even further from a teenager who remembers being worried when an older kid wanted to fight him.
“He kept running his mouth, telling me he wanted to box me and like, ‘Ali’s grandson, let’s box,’ and I kept saying no, no, no, because I was kind of scared,” Ali Walsh said. “The guy was a senior. For example, he talks about a 14-year-old child. I was a bit scared, I don’t want to box, I’m tired. And then I was obviously being pressured by a peer from the crowd, so I put on my gloves and just screamed at him (in the back) in a panic. It was fun.”
It’s more fun now that he knows what he’s doing and believes he’s getting better every game. And with Nico, an undefeated professional boxer, having his next fight a few days later in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it’s safe to say none of those kids at home would be messing with Ali’s grandkids today.
“They wouldn’t try it now,” Ali Walsh said.
