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FAMILY GLOVE
I’m related to the most famous boxer of all time but I kept it secret – people would try to fight me when they found out
He is not the only fighter in his family
BIAGGIO Ali Walsh has the most famous fighting surname of all time - but he did his best to keep it a secret.
The former college football prospect avoided anyone finding out he was the grandson of boxing icon Muhammad Ali.
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But after Biaggio's family ties were revealed his cover was blown forever - and from then a target was placed on his back.
"It was always a secret who we were related to," Biaggio told SunSport.
"My parents - especially my mom - she never really went around telling people who her dad was.
"And same thing with us, being her kids and his grandkids, we never really went around telling people.
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"The only people that kind of knew were my close friends that would come over to the house and see Muhammad Ali memorabilia and then they'd connect the two dots.
"Yeah, it was not something we told anybody, nobody really knew. When they would find out we'd get people that would say, 'Can you box? Can you fight? Let's spar.' All of those sorts of things."
Biaggio remembers having to teach one jock in particular a lesson.
"There was one time, freshman year of high school I was at a party with a lot of the older kids and one of the seniors was like, 'Yeah, let's box.' Saying it all day," he said.
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"I was kind of intimidated, 'I was like, I'm tired. Come on, I'm just trying to hang out.'
"But eventually, I was like screw it; put on the gloves and gave him a little ass whooping.
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"It's so weird that certain things like this would happen in my life because it was almost foreshadowing my career and I never thought that I would fight or be where I am today.
"It's just kind of funny how life works and how God has things planned out."
Biaggio initially 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.
He won his professional debut in February in Saudi Arabia after a successful 7-1 amateur career with the Professional Fighters League.
Biaggio now returns on Friday against Brian Stapleton at PFL Hollywood as he looks to build up his record.
"Get the cage experience. Win fights, that's always a given that you want to win fights," he said.
"So win fights, get as much experience as a I can, be more calm and composed each and every fight and just keep getting better and better.
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"The fighting journey is a learning journey, you're going to have ups and downs and it's just pushing through that and staying committed.
"The rest of this year is getting as many wins as I can and going into next year just doing the same thing. Just get that experience and as I get more experienced the challenges will get tougher and tougher