Boxing legend Muhammad Ali's grandson Biaggio Ali-Walsh has already made headlines for his
incredible athletic skill and equally impressive good looks.
But you probably won't see him floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee in the
ring any time soon.
It should come as no surprise that Ali-Walsh was born a natural athlete.
But unlike his grandfather, he pursued football instead of boxing.
He climbed the ranks at his Las Vegas high school before joining the University of California,
Berkeley's roster in 2017.
After struggling there, he transferred to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in August
2019.
In January 2017, he spoke with Sports Illustrated about his path to football, revealing,
"All my friends were playing flag [football], and I got into flag, and it was fun.
In seventh grade, I tried out tackle for the first time, and I didn't play that much.
Eighth grade, I took a year off.
But freshman year came around, and in high school I wanted to start it up again, and
I guess it worked out from there."
Ali-Walsh spoke with San Francisco's KPIX about how his grandfather was a fan of the
sport and would FaceTime him ahead of big games.
He even attended one game during Ali-Walsh's sophomore year of high school in which he
busted out an impressive 92-yard run.
"You know, when I see a hole, I'm gonna hit it, and I'm gone."
Growing up with "The Greatest" in your family tree can be both a blessing and a curse, so
it makes sense that Biaggio Ali-Walsh wasn't shouting his family's legacy from the rooftops
when he was just a little kid.
As he told ESPN in 2017,
"Back then, it was a huge secret who our grandfather was.
If we liked you enough, we would tell you.
But we kept it a secret, because we didn't want people to be me and [my brother] Nico's
friends just because of who we were related to."
That changed in 2007, when Muhammad Ali made a surprise visit to one of his grandson's
fourth-grade basketball games.
As Ali-Walsh described it to ESPN,
"Everybody just stopped what they were doing and looked.
The ref was like, 'What the...?'
The ref couldn't really ref, the coach couldn't really coach.
Nobody could believe it.
Nico fell down onto the ground out of shock.
It was just hysterical."'
Ali-Walsh enjoyed a great relationship with his grandfather.
He revealed some of his fond family memories to Sports Illustrated, including Thanksgiving
gatherings.
Ali loved magic tricks, so Biaggio's brother Nico would bring his magic kit, and the brothers
would show their granddad their tricks.
Ali-Walsh also talked with ESPN about his family memories, revealing,
"Growing up, being around him, he was a grandfather.
But to the public, he was an icon...We'd go over on Thanksgiving and see him in person.
This is the guy I was just watching on YouTube!
That was crazy, I'd trip out like that."
Ali-Walsh also said the pre-match trash-talking that his grandfather was famous for was really
just an act.
As he put it to ESPN,
"He had to talk because boxing was more individual.
But behind the cameras, my grandfather was one of the most humble people you'll ever
meet.
He definitely talked, and he told us that he talked a lot for people to pay, for the
entertainment aspect of it.
That's why he did the talking.
So it would sell."
Considering how attractive and charming his grandfather was, it should come as no surprise
that Biaggio Ali-Walsh also grew up to be gorgeous.
And he's even gone on to make some money from winning the DNA lottery.
In June 2016, he confirmed on Twitter that he was signed to the acclaimed modeling agency
Wilhelmina.
He talked with Sports Illustrated about how this chapter of his life started, revealing,
"When I was about 5 years old, I was with Ford Chicago.
When we moved to Vegas, things just didn't work out.
So I was done with [modeling].
Then, I think it was in March of last year, I got a [Twitter direct message] from an agent
with Wilhelmina Models.
He said that he was from Wilhelmina, and he was interested in signing me as a model.
I didn't know what Wilhelmina was.
So I researched it, and it turned out it was a huge agency, so I went to my parents, and
we tried to get things going."
He might not be knocking anybody out with his hands anytime soon, but it sounds like
he's still a knockout!
Ali-Walsh has honored his grandfather's legacy through a series of tattoos.
And unlike a lot of other people who have gotten themselves marked with permanent ink,
we're pretty sure he won't eventually regret his.
In December 2016, he got a pair of animal tattoos on his forearms.
One's a butterfly, and the other's a bee.
This of course pays homage to Muhammad Ali's famous slogan about hmiself,
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Ahhh!"
Ali-Walsh told KPIX that he got the ink during his senior year of high school.
He generally gets compliments on the artwork even though people somehow don't make the
connection to his grandfather's catchphrase.
Ali-Walsh's mother Rasheda has spoken out about concerns she has over her sons playing
professional sports.
The possible injuries they could endure surely hit close to home for her, considering her
father's long battle with Parkinson's disease, which doctors say was caused by his many years
of boxing.
She confessed to ESPN,
"I don't want Biaggio to play football and I don't want Nico to box.
I want them to swim or play golf or something that wouldn't worry me as much.
But then I realize: What if my grandmother had taken away my dad's dream from him in
boxing?
My dad loved boxing so much, but he should have retired a lot sooner.
He didn't want to say goodbye to boxing.
He let boxing say goodbye to him."
Here's to hoping that Ali-Walsh can find success without also suffering through a chronic illness.
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