Nico Ali Walsh Appears On Zuffa Broadcast
Nico Ali Walsh attended Zuffa Boxing 09 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday at TKO's invitation and appeared on the company's broadcast despite leading the campaign against the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act.
Ali Walsh, Muhammad Ali's grandson and chair of the Ali Act Preservation Alliance, announced the invitation on social media ahead of the card. On air, he told Zuffa's announce team the setting changed nothing. "No offense, I don't care about Zuffa," he said, per Boxing Insider. "I'm only here for boxing. I'm here for the fighters."
Ali Walsh Maintains Opposition Despite TKO Platform
The appearance gave TKO the image it wanted. The founder of the organized opposition to its legislation appeared on the company's stage at its New York debut. Ali Walsh described ongoing weekly conversations with senators about the bill and repeated that he expects the Revival Act will not pass in its current form.
Ali Walsh founded the Alliance in April after TKO pushed the Revival Act through the House. He traveled to Washington with Oscar De La Hoya to testify against the bill before the Senate and has warned the legislation would let Zuffa consolidate boxing the way UFC consolidated MMA. In June, he told BoxingScene the fight was "Ali against the United States again."
TKO counts Lonnie Ali, Muhammad Ali's widow, among the bill's public supporters. De La Hoya remains the most prominent voice opposing it. What Ali Walsh and TKO executives discussed privately in New York has not been disclosed. The Revival Act awaits action in the Senate.
Photo: Ira Rosenberg / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Original reporting:
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