Nico Ali Walsh, grandson of Muhammad Ali, carries the torch to the legendary boxer

Nico Ali Walsh used to wear a jacket to hide the tattoo on his forearm, so as not to attract people's attention.

This is not a controversial tattoo. This is just a face of the boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

But when people asked about his relationship with this great man, the question came up-he was his grandson.

His relationship with Ali not only caught people's attention, but as an aspiring boxer, as the grandson of one of the greatest boxers of all time, it also brought pressure and expectations.

However, Walsh did not let this pressure affect him because he won his professional debut and defeated in the first round suspension at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Catoosa, Oklahoma in August. Jordan Zhou.

Before the second game at Atlanta State Farm Arena on Saturday, October 23, Walsh told CNN that he had finally begun to accept the pressure of his "life" related to Ali.

"I always feel the need to maintain the best behavior. Sometimes it's really annoying, but it's the truth," the 21-year-old told CNN.

"And I have only recently started to accept this name because I have been avoiding it for a long time... and I'm just avoiding it. But I can't avoid it, especially in my sports where I am now. So I really I’ve been working hard to embrace it. So I’ll say I’m more proud now, I’m lucky, and it turned out to be like this, because it’s not always that way.”

But in his debut victory, Walsh said that fans of his iconic grandfather reached out to him, saying that he "resurrected him."

"An interesting thing happened between me, SugarHill (the housekeeper, his coach), and my strength and fitness coach. They kept calling me "ghost" because I brought him back. It’s really humble, This is what I want and I am happy to do so."

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When Walsh stepped onto the stage of his career debut, he wore a dress that he thought might bring him good luck.

Hiding under the ropes in Oklahoma, Walsh wore white Everlast shorts, which formerly belonged to Ali and passed down after his death in 2016.

However, Walsh never intended to wear shorts. They were only used as souvenirs at first.

However, after his custom shorts were not ready in time, the other shorts he had to participate in happened to be given to him by his grandfather.

Just having something so closely related to his grandfather to fight with him gave him a little extra motivation.

"It gave me a lot of extra encouragement. It was just a crazy, crazy night," he recalled. "This is one of many things that brought my grandfather back to life on Saturday night.

"I really thought he was alive that night. In many ways, through the singing in the crowd, they were chanting:'Ali', this is something I have never seen before. I have only seen it in black and black . The white clip on YouTube. But he was alive on Saturday night. It was through me, through shorts, and the whole night was such a blessing. I can’t imagine a better night.”

Although the shorts brought him some good luck and a little extra energy, after the game, Walsh said he would no longer wear shorts, although he did not rule out wearing shorts to end his career.

"I shouldn't have worn them in my first game, but destiny and destiny made me wear them. Now it is locked in history forever. That was my professional debut. That was in my life. The most important night. It was "This is the best night of my life. I want to remember that shorts are like this, which is why I might never wear them again. "

Living in the shadow of one of the most famous figures in sports is not something most people have to face.

For Walsh, as he was growing up, Ali-he defeated legends such as Joe Fraser, George Foreman and Sonny Liston with a 56-5 professional boxing record ——Just "Grandpa".

Although his amateur opponents improved their game when they realized who they shared the ring with-"If I fight an ordinary Joe amateur boxer, when he fights me, he will become Joe Fraser "Walsh remembered-it was Ali's 70th birthday when he realized how much people outside of his family loved his grandfather.

"I attended his birthday party and saw a bunch of celebrities that I only watched on TV. The main thing I saw was Zheng Ken. He played Mr. Zhou in the hangover. I saw him and I said:" Mr. Zhou said happy birthday to my grandfather. "I was only 11 years old and I loved him. I thought:'Wow, my grandfather must be a special person.'"

Given his grandfather's success, becoming a boxer was like "destiny" for Walsh. He remembered trying about "48 hours" of football before he thought the sport was not suitable for him.

After devoting himself to boxing, Walsh made sure to use the knowledge his grandfather had accumulated during his brilliant career.

"I always show him my videos. I always show him my sparring and my training clips," Walsh said.

"One day I asked him for advice, and he said it very well. Because of his physical condition, he didn't always say the best, but one day he said so sharp and clear, he just said that moving and dancing made it. A fighter. I just got advice on what makes a fighter and what I should do to be a good fighter. He just said, "Eat well and do more work." "That's all the things I remember so far."

Before the media meeting before his first professional player, Walsh confidently wore a T-shirt with Ali's face printed on it, with his famous quote-"When you are as great as me, it is difficult to remain humble "——.

In hindsight, he had a good reason to beat Weeks in the first round.

Trained by SugarHill Steward, coach of Tyson Fury, and managed by Bob Arum, who promoted Ali 27 games, Walsh's performance contradicted his experience.

The butler did not reveal the identity of his opponent to Walsh until a few days before the match, and the young boxer saw the positive factors behind this strategy.

Although his boxing journey has just begun, for him, not surpassing himself is the most important thing.

"My biggest goal is to play one game at a time and become the greatest Nico, because I have high expectations of myself, and obviously the whole public also has high expectations of me. That's a great goal, to be the best. Me."

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Outside the ring, Ali is not afraid to stand up for his beliefs, even if there are consequences, this trait has been passed on to Walsh.

"This is what I have always been passionate about, things outside the ring. The career my grandfather represents is parallel to the career I represent today," he said.

"Unfortunately, there are still some problems, social problems and social injustices for African Americans and minorities in the United States. Unfortunately, this is still one thing. The injustice he fought for in the 1960s was " It is still popular today, but on a different level. This is more important to me than fighting in the ring. This is a battle outside the ring. "

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