My grandad is the most famous boxer ever but I used to keep it a secret.. now I’m making my own way in a different sport

3 months ago 23

BIAGGIO ALI WALSH is the grandson to the most iconic fighter of all time – but it is not something he ever wanted people to know.

The former college football prospect grew up doing his best to avoid anyone finding out he was related to the legendary Muhammad Ali.

Ali pictured with a young Biaggio[/caption]

It was only after his family ties were revealed in the press that Biaggio’s cover was blown forever.

He told SunSport: “When I was younger, a lot of people didn’t know who I was, we kept it a secret, me and my family.

“The only people who really knew where my closest friends who are still my closest friends today that would come over to the house and they would see all this Muhammad Ali stuff.

“When I was playing football, Max Preps came out with something and to this day I still don’t know how they found out who I was related to.

“I guess word spread like wildfire, I don’t know. But since high school everyone knew that I was Ali’s grandson and now I’m participating in a combat sports it’s only getting worse.”

Biaggio set his sights on completely distancing himself from the family trade, despite auntie Laila being a boxing champion and brother Nico also turning professional.

He dreamed of playing in the NFL after getting a scholarship to play in California but by 2019 he hung up his boots and instead picked up the gloves.

But not the boxing gloves that gave his family so much legacy – as Biaggio instead began training in MMA and by 2022 he had his first fight.

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Now a 7-1 amateur, the American makes his pro debut in Saudi Arabia on February 24 on the PFL vs Bellator card.

It comes almost 50 years on from Ali’s infamous hybrid fight against Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki in Tokyo.

Biaggio, 25, said: “I think it’s cool that an Ali would be fighting in MMA.

“I think it was in 76’ my grandfather did a cross-martial arts thing with a wrestler.

“So like that’s kind of how MMA started, the boxer versus the wrestler, jiu jitsu versus karate, taekwondo against the judo guy.

“It was kind of like what martial arts is the best and that was going on in the 70s when my grandfather did a cross fight with a wrestler.

“So yeah, I think it’s cool to say like, ‘The Alis are a boxing family but Biaggio does MMA.’”

Biaggio was signed to the Professional Fighters League in 2022 and won all five of his bouts by knockout.

And from the get-go – while still an amateur – Biaggio had the eyes of the world on him having carried his famous fighting name into the cage.

It is the same pressure he has dealt with from the moment his family roots were revealed – so nothing will be new when he returns this time as a pro.

He said: “It doesn’t feel different. I’m always going to have a target on my back even when I was playing football I had a target on my back.

“Especially when I was running to the touch down and they were behind me and they could see that big target on my back! And it’s only really going to get worse, really.

“The media interviews are going to pile up, the haters are going to get much worse, the online comments, it’s all going to get completely worse. So I’m ready for it, come on. I don’t care.”