Ali grandson earns first Garden victory

Nico Ali Walsh entered the same ring where his grandfather, Muhammad Ali, shared some of his greatest moments.

And just like his grandfather, Ali Walsh exited the Madison Square Garden ring a winner.

Ali Walsh, 21, defeated Reyes Sanchez, to improve to 3-0 in his young boxing career. It was the first time one of his fights went the distance, coming out on top via majority decision. It marked the first loss of Sanchez’s career, who entered the night 6-0.

“It was an honor to fight here,” Ali Walsh said after the fight. “I’m just looking to build off every single fight. I’m looking to learn and improve every single fight. I’ve already reached the pinnacle having fought here.”

The middleweight bout kicked off the Vasiliy Lomachenko versus Richard Commey main card.

“Ali, Ali, Ali” chants echoed throughout the Garden as Ali Walsh finished the second round in a flurry, tagging Sanchez with multiple body shots. He seemed close to finishing Sanchez’s night early, hurting him with a right hand with about 30 seconds left the round, but the 29-year-old Sanchez survived to hear the bell.

Sanchez had the upper hand in the third round, as Ali Walsh appeared fatigued going further into a fight than he had in either of his previous pro bouts, and admitted “I did close to nothing.” He collected himself in the fourth and final round, however, finishing strong and leaving with a 38-38, 40-36, 39-37 victory.

It was a good test for Ali Walsh, who feels he’s being moved along in his career quicker than normal due to his last name.

“As much as I’m glad, I’m accepting of it,” Ali Walsh said. “I’m getting fasttracked, and I’m fighting better guys than a normal person with three fights would be fighting, but I just gotta learn quicker.”

Fifty years after his grandfather’s famous “Fight of the Century” at MSG, another Ali has his Garden moment.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “It’s a piece of history to be in here, let alone fight here.”

UFC: Nunes, Poirier lose

In Las Vegas, Julianna Peña stopped Amanda Nunes by submission with a rear naked choke in the second round at UFC 269, claiming the bantamweight title from the long-reigning two-division champion in one of the biggest upsets in recent UFC history.

Charles Oliveira also defended his lightweight title for the first time with a third-round stoppage victory over Dustin Poirier by standing rear naked choke in the main event.