Muhammad Ali's grandson Nico Ali Walsh remained unbeaten as he stopped Reyes Sanchez in the second round with a pair of brutal body shots.
The fight took place in the same arena where Walsh’s grandfather had his jaw broken by Ken Norton in his 1973 loss and marks Walsh's sixth win since making his professional debut last August. The grandson-of-a-legend was taken the distance by Sanchez in his third professional fight, but showed in his class in their rematch as he folded the 30-year-old with a series of hooks to the body.
It was clear Walsh was hunting the body shot from the opening bell, mixing up his jab to the body and head of Sanchez. Walsh was putting together some good combinations in the first round but, like their first meeting, Sanchez proved he was no slouch by coming back with punches of his own. Sanchez was warned for landing shots to the back of Walsh's head and with less than 30 seconds left in the second round, Walsh landed a right-left combination to Sanchez's body that forced him to take a knee.
Sanchez was unable to beat the ten-count after going down from the body shot, with the win meaning Walsh has now stopped every opponent he's faced. Walsh said after his win: "It was so gratifying, Timothy Bradley called the shot in the fighter meetings. It was a beautiful shot, it was the shot I was looking for and dreaming about. It happened because I worked so hard for it.
"I feel amazing. This is a special win because of course it was a rematch. It was everything I've been working towards, my hard work has shown in the ring I want everyone to see that it's a new me and I think you saw that. I've got to think my coaches and [promoter] Bob Arum, these are geniuses behind every single fight."
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The fight was Walsh's first since scoring a one-punch knockout in his fifth professional outing against Alejandro Ibarra earlier this year. The 22-year-old racked up his first four wins in the space of four months, picking up consecutive knockout wins against Jordan Weeks and James Westley before he was taken the distance against Sanchez in his fourth fight. Walsh started the year off with a second-round knockout of Jeremiah Yeager.
