2016 Olympian Featherweight Muhammad Ali (No Relation) Signs with Queensberry Promotions
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
2016 Olympian, featherweight Muhammad Ali (no relation to the former World heavyweight champion Muhammad ‘The Greatest’ Ali) has signed a professional contract with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions.
Muhammad Ali ‘the younger’ won the silver medal at the 2014 AIBA World Youth Championships, losing respectably to current World Boxing Organization World Featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson. Ali was also a bronze medalist at the 2014 Youth Summer Olympics, and a 2015 European Tournament silver medalist. Ali won the ABA amateur championship in 2015, and also won the 2016 Olympic Boxing European Qualification Tournament.
Unfortunately, Muhammad Ali the younger was for several years after the 2016 qualification tournament subjected to an enforced absence (involuntary suspension) from amateur and professional boxing following an adverse finding of an illegal substance being detected in his system. However, the International Boxing Association explicitly acknowledged Ali, now age 22, had not knowingly ingested a banned substance, implying he was treated with a medication for a medical treatment that was not on the amateur boxing approved list at the time it was prescribed.
Frank Warren issued this statement on his newest signed prospect, who joined 2016 heavyweight Olympian Joe Joyce in the Warren stable. “There can be no doubt Muhammad Ali (the younger) is a hugely talented young fighter who is desperate to test himself in the pro ranks after a difficult period in his life. He now wants the opportunity to progress in the sport he excels in, and we are going to give it to him. As far as I am concerned, he starts with a clean slate, and I am looking forward to navigating him towards title contention.” No word yet as to whether the Muhammad Ali Center or the Muhammad Ali Foundation object to the rising boxing prospect’s use of his own name in his career.
COMMENTS
English