Being related to one of the greatest of all time is enough pressure to make most people crack.
But for the grandson of Muhammad Ali, Nico Ali Walsh, he’s taken it in his stride with an undefeated run of eight fights since he turned pro.
And he’s eyeing a seriously huge fight with another Australian from yet another of boxing’s great families.
Ali Walsh is chasing a fight with the undefeated Nikita Tszyu, the younger son of legendary Russian-Australian boxer Kostya Tszyu.
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Speaking after his latest win, the prodigy admitted that a trip to Australia would be an intriguing prospect for him.
He told Fox Sports: “I don’t know too much about the Tszyu brothers but obviously I’ve heard of them.
“And I definitely want to have a fight down there in Australia, I love it.
“I’ve never been but mum has, I have fans down there and I’ve only ever heard amazing things.
“So I guess time will tell.
“If it’s supposed to happen it will happen.”
The 22-year-old turned pro in 2021 and has since won eight straight fights with five of those wins coming by knockout.
He has trained with Tyson Fury’s current fighter SugarHill Steward and is already being promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank.
So he certainly has a lot of backing to be the next big thing in boxing.
Meanwhile, Tszyu began his pro journey in 2022 and has four wins and zero losses to his name.
Nikita is also the brother of the number one Australian fighter in Tim Tszyu, so it would certainly be a battle of two of the greatest boxing families coming together.
Seems like the perfect storm waiting to happen.
Muhammad Ali visited Australia in 1979 - the same year that he retired from boxing.
Although the public didn’t take to his exhibition fights he did appear as a special guest at the Logies in Melbourne.
Ali was a man of the people and it’s something Ali Walsh wants to replicate.
He said: “I saw it growing up with my grandfather who was so nice to everyone.
“He took pictures with everyone, signed every autograph … he’s my hero and I want to be like that.
“I’m ready for it.”
Topics: Boxing, Muhammad Ali, Australia
Jayden Collins