EXCLUSIVE
‘MMA brought me closer to God’: Biaggio Ali Walsh, Muhammad Ali’s grandson
PFL fighter talks to Al Jazeera about his meteoric journey, the power of MMA, and being Muhammad Ali’s grandson.
![If Walsh wins his next fight, it could hasten his journey to becoming fully professional and fulfilling his dreams, which he says are not about belts but something more spiritual and altruistic [File: Cooper Neill/PFL]](/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/C2N06322-1698311839.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
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After the bell: Muhammad Ali and the fight for freedom
“His legacy is just as meaningful now as it was when he held the belt over his head in triumph.”
For Arab Americans, Muhammad Ali was our champion
“I remember him walking into the store where I worked and singling out me, the darkest-skinned and only Arab employee.”
How Muhammad Ali helped revive boxing in China
Boxing was once banned by Mao Zedong, but Ali helped to revive the sport and still inspires Chinese boxers today.
Muhammad Ali training in his Pennsylvanian mountain retreat in Owigsburg for his fight against George Foreman in Zaire in August 1974. [Reuters]
Ali is held back by the referee after he dropped challenger Sonny Liston less than two minutes into the first round of their heavyweight title fight in Lewiston, Maine, on May 25, 1965. [AP]
Muhammad Ali is greeted in downtown Kinshasa, Zaire, in 1974 where he was to fight George Foreman. [AP]
Sports promoter Don King stands between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in New York on July 17, 1975. [AP]
Spray flies from the head of Frazier as Ali connects with a right in their title fight in Manila in the Philippines on October 1, 1975. [Mitsunori Chigita/AP]
Ali cuddling his daughters Laila, left, and Hana at a hotel in London on December 19, 1978. [Action Images/MSI/Reuters]
Ali jabs at photographers while arriving at the Orpheum Theatre for the premiere of the film Collateral in Los Angeles on August 2, 2004. [Robert Galbraith/Reuters]
WBC and WIBA super middleweight champion Laila Ali is kissed by her father at the MCI Center in Washington on June 11, 2005. [Jason Reed/Reuters]
US President George W Bush honours Ali with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a ceremony in the White House on November 9, 2005. [Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]
The boxing legend, whose fast fists and irrepressible personality transcended sports, died on June 3, according to a statement released by his family. He was 74. [Matt Slocum/AP]
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The legacy of Muhammad AliThis article will be opened in a new browser window
What did the boxing legend and social justice icon mean to the world?
Muhammad Ali was ‘like the Pope’ in the Philippines
Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao says Muhammad Ali, who fought in Manila in 1975 against Joe Frazier, was an inspiration.
Muhammad Ali: The face of ‘real Islam’
At a time when Muslims in the US are facing scorn and bigotry, the boxing legend is remembered as the face of Islam.
Did head trauma give Muhammad Ali Parkinson’s disease?
Experts debate whether head injuries the boxing legend sustained could have caused his Parkinson’s disease.
How Muhammad Ali influenced the Civil Rights Movement
Muhammad Ali galvanised the Civil Rights Movement by appealing to people who otherwise agreed on little politically.
Muhammad Ali died of septic shock
Muhammad Ali’s funeral will be held on Friday in his hometown Louisville, Kentucky, a family spokesman says.
