Muhammad Ali’s grandson Nico Ali Walsh suffered the first loss of his career five days after his last opponent faced a suspension for an adverse finding in a drug sample.
Ali Walsh was handed back his 8-0 record after possessing an 8-0-1 benchmark before the ruling. However, he’s now 8-1 after a shock reverse on points in Tulsa.
Danny Rosenberger was fined and banned until next year, with the bout’s result altered to a no-contest. The Nevada State Athletic Commission had no problem acting following elevated levels of testosterone in a sample from Rosenberger after his stalemate with Walsh on May 20 at the world-famous MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Muhammad Ali’s grandson loses
Fighting at middleweight in Tulsa on the Jared Anderson undercard this weekend, Ali Walsh went up against one-loss Sona Akale.
Surprisingly, Akale scored an upset majority decision win after six highly competitive rounds. Both men now boast almost identical records of 8-1 with only a stoppage between them.
Ali Walsh landed uppercuts and hooks that wobbled Akale. However, the Cameroon-born Akale edged rounds based on pressure to secure the victory. At the end of the contest, scores read 58-56 twice for Ali’s opponent.
A third scored it level at 57-57, with a rematch possible in the coming months.
The Real Big Baby
Heavyweight knockout artist Anderson, the 23-year-old fighting pride of Toledo, Ohio, defeated Ukrainian contender Andriy Rudenko in the headliner.
Anderson scored a fifth-round TKO in front of adoring fans at the Tulsa Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
“The Real Big Baby” took control of the fight in the opening round. He scored sharp jabs and combinations to the body. Rudenko, who was frustrated with Anderson’s offense, began to grab him by the back of his head to prevent the onslaught.
In the third, Anderson teed off with a relentless attack on the body. Rudenko survived, partly aided by his continual headlocks. In the fifth round, Rudenko was finally deducted a point, but another flurry from Anderson forced referee Gary Ritter to end the fight at 1:40.
Further action saw another upset as Nigerian contender Efe Ajagba defeated Zhan Kossobutskiy. Ajagba took “The Heavyweight GGG” to deep waters in the fight.
That was until several low blows from the Kazakh-born southpaw forced referee Chris Flores to disqualify him in the fourth round.
Ajagba is now first in line to face Anderson next, with Olympic champion Bakhodir Jalolov not far behind after winning his clash on the bill in the first round.
