I’m Muhammad Ali’s grandson and an undefeated boxer – everyone wants to beat me to say they’ve knocked out an Ali

IT takes a lot of guts to pull off the Ali shuffle in a boxing ring – but show-manship is in the DNA of The Greatest’s grandson.

This weekend the undefeated Nico Ali Walsh will step into the ring for his tenth professional bout as he attempts to prove he is the true heir to his grandfather Muhammad Ali’s sporting legacy.

For as long as he can remember, the 23-year-old fighter has faced people who would love to take down the grandson of the former heavyweight champion, who died in 2016 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

And rather than trying to ignore the huge shadow of history’s most famous boxer, Nico is facing up to his challengers in true Ali style.

The middleweight, who shares a trainer and promoter with Tyson Fury, has knocked out five of his opponents so far.

And he is not the only Ali grandson willing to put the family reputation on the line in the ring.

Last night Nico’s brother Biaggio, 24, was fighting at New York’s Madison Square Garden in a mixed martial arts contest.

One person who knows better than most how the brothers measure up against the legend is their grandmother — Ali’s second wife Khalilah, formerly Belinda Boyd.

She says watching Nico is like seeing her former husband return, and tells The Sun: “He has the stamina, the motion, the motivation, the drive and he has the DNA of a champion.

“He can be really good and I think he can go all the way. It’s like reincarnation. In his own way he’s Nico Ali, just like Muhammad was in his young days fighting when he backed it all the way.”

Tough times

Khalilah was 17 when she married Ali in 1967, the same year he was prosecuted for refusing the draft to fight in the Vietnam War and was stripped of his heavyweight title.

His conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court four years later.

Khalilah stuck by him during the tough times and they had four children, Maryum, now 55, twins Jamillah and Rasheda, 53 — Nico and Biaggio’s mum — and Muhammad Ali Junior, 51.

But following his constant cheating, Khalilah and Ali divorced in 1977, two years after he defeated Joe Frazier in the fight dubbed the Thrilla In Manila.

She says: “I went through some very tough times with him and I was really angry with some of the things he did, but I could no longer tolerate that so I had to let him go in the end.”

As kids Nico and Biaggio would watch their grandad hit a punch bag, and at school they were regularly asked if they could hit as hard as Ali and were often challenged to fights.

But even though Nico says he tried to avoid talking about his family connection, there was no escaping it, and to protect himself he learned how to spar from the age of ten.

He said: “Everyone wants to knock out an Ali. So my first time ever sparring in a boxing gym, I felt that.”

Meanwhile, Biaggio initially opted for American football, making a big impact as a running back in the state of Nevada, where the family moved before the boys started secondary school.

Rasheda hoped her dad would also urge Nico to follow a different sport from boxing, but she was disappointed.

She said: “My facial expression is like, ‘Daddy, what are you doing? Why are you encouraging him to box?’”

The family’s home in Las Vegas was not far from Ali’s in neighbouring Arizona, and the brothers got to know their grandfather well.

Nico was disappointed to lose his first amateur bout aged 15, but Ali, who he called “Poppy”, told him not to worry about it.

He told Nico: “You don’t have to be undefeated to be the Greatest.

It’s part of the journey. Enjoy this journey. It’s an opportunity to look back and say, ‘I did that wrong. I did that wrong’.”

And defeat did not shake Nico from his love for the sport.

Moreover, Khalilah, 73, is supportive, saying: “I understand Nico loves his grand- father, he wants to be like his grandfather, but I didn’t see that at all at first.

“When I saw him fight and train in the gym I’ve seen different, but when I went to one of his fights I see he’s mastering his art, he’s done real good.”

Nico turned professional in 2021, signing a deal with veteran 91-year-old promoter Bob Arum, who co- promotes Fury and looked after more than 25 of Ali’s fights.

Nico has trained with Sugarhill Steward, who last year helped to guide Fury to victory against Deontay Wilder.

On moving up from amateur to pro boxing, Nico says of the British boxer: “He gave me the best advice I’ve heard.

“He said he had 35 amateur fights — if you can fight, you can fight.”

With such top-class backing, Nico has the opportunity to work his way up to a championship attempt.

But, as with all new fighters, his handlers are not rushing him.

On Saturday he faces undefeated American Sona Akale at the Hard Rock Hotel in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Khalilah says: “He’s taking his time, and he loves Muhammad so much and wants to be like him.

“But you know what, he’s undefeated, he’s a knockout artist — he knocks people out.”

Nico is also displaying some of the great entertainer’s bravado by shuffling his feet in front of an opponent.

Khalilah continues: “He sometimes says he shuffles like Muhammad.

He says it would just come to him in his head because he’s living his passion in sport to perfect what his grand- father had.”

Biaggio, who works as a bouncer, is still an amateur MMA fighter, despite joining the Professional Fighters League.

He has achieved an impressive four consecutive first-round knockouts.

There is one difference between the Ali generations — and that is that Nico is not one to engage in trash-talking another fighter, as his grandfather used to.

Ali famously said his opponent Sonny Liston was “too ugly to be world champion” in 1964.

Nico said: “My grandfather is selling my fights for me, because of the name. All I’ve got to do is work hard and show my dedication and my ability, and that sells the fight.

“I don’t have to be a braggadocious, loud guy like he was.”

Among those who are trying to bait the Ali Walsh brothers is You-Tuber and occasional boxer Jake Paul, who has challenged them both to a fight.

But at 6ft 1in and around 13st, cruiserweight Jake — who is now turning his hand to mixed martial arts — is significantly bigger than either of the brothers.

Biaggio said: “I have no problem with Jake Paul but he should fight someone his own size.”

Jake is unlikely to be the last person to try to gain some publicity by boasting that he can beat an Ali.

Nico understands that he is a big name that everyone will want to put down.

He said: “That’s how it is every single time — they just prepare because they want to be able to beat an Ali, I guess. So I’m prepared for that and it’s funny how that works. But I’m ready.”

Tyson Fury has also drawn comparisons to Ali, with his larger-than-life charisma and showmanship, such as post-fight singing, and Khalilah is a fan, though she adds: “I think Tyson Fury is a great fighter but he’s not Muhammad Ali at all.

“He can try to be like Muhammad Ali and have the confidence and all that, and that’s a good thing, but he’s no Muhammad Ali.”

In his younger days, Nico struggled with being compared to his grand- father, but he knows there is no escaping the Ali legacy.

Instead, he has embraced it by having two portraits of Ali tattooed on his arm.

He said: “When I was younger, I hated it. I’m still trying to embrace it myself. But that’s what it’s all about - I have to run towards it because I have no other option.”

• Undefeated: The Untold Story Of My Forgiveness, Healing And Reclamation, by Dr Khalilah Ali Camacho, is available through Amazon.