The grandson of Muhammad Ali has gotten his first professional boxing match win and at the same time, honored his grandfather’s legacy.
Nico Ali Walsh, 21, wore a pair of his grandfather’s iconic white trunks as he won the middleweight fight against Jordan Weeks, CNN reported.
Weeks is an MMA fighter, The Associated Press reported.
He had a first-round stoppage at the match held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Catoosa, Oklahoma.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone that supported me,” Walsh wrote on Instagram. “I brought my grandfather in the ring with me by wearing his shorts for the first and final time as a professional fighter. I’m more than proud to say: The Legacy Continues.”
Walsh’s promoter, Bob Arum, also promoted 27 of Ali’s fights, the AP reported.
Ali died in June 2016 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Walsh is the son of one of Muhammad Ali’s nine children — Rasheda Ali.
“I’ve never been able to escape my grandfather, no matter what sport I played,” Walsh said, according to The New York Times. “I’m starting to embrace it. It’s very hard to do, but you have to embrace the legacy, no matter what it is. Everybody becomes stronger when they embrace what they’re destined to do.”
Walsh isn’t the only one in his family to follow in the footsteps of “The Greatest.” Ali’s daughter Laila Ali was a world champion boxer like her father, CNN reported.
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