Ali to do justice to the greatest name in boxing

British boxer Muhammad Ali might share his name with The Greatest but insisted he is doing a good job of living up to his hero.

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London - British boxer Muhammad Ali might share his name with The Greatest but insisted he is doing a good job of living up to his hero, who won Olympic gold in 1960.

The 20-year-old flyweight, who was given the name by his boxing loving father Shahid, wants to emulate the success of his namesake in Rio next week.

‘Everyone asks me if it’s a good thing,’ said Ali. ‘But why would it be a bad thing? He’s the greatest athlete of all time.

‘They ask, “Is it not too much pressure?”, but I’m the youngest on the British squad so where’s the pressure? I’m living up to the name to the best of my ability. If I could win a medal it would be doing it justice.’

Ali (left), who is from Keighley in West Yorkshire, nearly gave up boxing in 2012 when his younger brother Danish, also a talented boxer, suffered a brain haemorrhage.

‘My family didn’t let me box for a bit but I was sneaking off to the gym because I didn’t know what else to do,’ he said. ‘It gives me something to do instead of wasting my life away.’

Daily Mail