Ali Walsh: Everyone Has Tough Fights At Some Point; Glad I Was Able To Come Back Stronger

LAS VEGAS – Nico Ali Walsh wants to build on the success he achieved the last time he fought.

Muhammad Ali’s grandson stopped Jeremiah Yeager in the second round of his most recent appearance, a non-televised bout January 29 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With a new trainer, Richard Sloan, in his corner, Ali Walsh was able to bounce back from a subpar performance in his previous fight – a four-round, majority-decision win over Reyes Sanchez, which ESPN televised December 11 as part of the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Richard Commey undercard from Madison Square Garden.

Yeager (1-2-1, 1 KO), of Erie, Pennsylvania, is much more experienced in mixed martial arts than boxing and wasn’t as formidable as Sanchez (7-1, 3 KOs). Still, Ali Walsh lacks overall experience and needed a confidence boost while learning on the job.

The 21-year-old Ali Walsh wants to show some more growth when he returns to ESPN’s airwaves Saturday night on the Shakur Stevenson-Oscar Valdez undercard at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Ali Walsh (4-0, 3 KOs), who will soon graduate from UNLV, is scheduled to encounter Denver’s Alejandro Ibarra (7-1, 2 KOs) in a four-rounder.

“Everyone has tough fights at some point in their career,” Ali Walsh said during a press conference Thursday. “I’m glad I was able to get that experience early on and I was able to come back stronger, and you saw that in my fight in January. So, now I’ve had the time to spar some of the best guys in the world and I’m back. So, this time around I’ll be able to showcase more than I did in January.”

Ibarra, 28, has won four straight fights since Mexican underdog Cesar Ruiz (then 9-7) stopped him in the third round of a November 2018 bout at Eclipse Event Center in Denver. Ibarra intentionally skipped the press conference Thursday.

“That’s definitely not sending a message, not showing up,” Ali Walsh said. “I mean, if anything, that’s not good on him. But, you know, it is what it is. I don’t know if he’ll be my toughest opponent. You find out when you’re in the ring. And like Mike Tyson said, everyone’s got a plan until they get punched. So, we’ll see.”

ESPN’s three-bout broadcast is scheduled to start at 10 p.m. ET, following the network’s “UFC Fight Night” coverage. In addition to the 12-round main event between Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs), the WBO junior lightweight champion from Newark, New Jersey, and Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs), the WBC super featherweight champ from Nogales, Mexico, ESPN also will air an eight-round co-feature in which Keyshawn Davis (4-0, 3 KOs), an elite lightweight prospect from Norfolk, Virginia, will encounter Esteban Sanchez (18-1, 8 KOs), of Conroe, Texas.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.