Muhammad Ali’s grandson Nico Ali Walsh had to settle for a draw after previously winning his first eight professional boxing bouts.
Danny Rosenberger held Ali at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on the undercard of Devn Haney vs Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Ali Walsh moves to 8-0-1 with five KOs but will be bitterly disappointed to falter on a massive stage. He wanted to deliver another victory for the fans of his adopted hometown of Las Vegas.
However, he encountered a stylistic challenge in the unheralded Rosenberger, now 13-9-5, with four stoppages KOs after the contest.
The contest was a stalemate after eight rounds of middleweight action.
Muhammad Ali’s grandson
Ali Walsh worked from a high guard, trying to pepper Rosenberger with quick jabs and right hands to the body. To counter, Rosenberger used his footwork to prevent Ali Walsh from establishing his offense.
Ali Walsh attempted to work on the inside. However, Rosenberger would tie him up before finding the center of the ring.
He continued to box outside until the final bell ended the encounter. Ultimately, the judges’ scores read 77-75 either way and 76-76 even.
Other Haney vs. Loma results:
Devin Haney controversially made the second defense of his undisputed title with scores of 115-113 [twice] and 116-112 against Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Junto Nakatani (25-0, 19 KOs) is now a two-division world champion. The fighting pride of Sagamihara, Japan, captured the WBO junior bantamweight world title with a scintillating 12th-round knockout over Andrew Moloney (25-3, 16 KOs).
After over a year of inactivity, Oscar Valdez made a triumphant ring return with a 10-round unanimous decision win in a rematch against Adam Lopez.
Lightweights: Emiliano Fernando Vargas (5-0, 4 KOs) defeated Rafael Jasso (3-1, 1 KO) via second-round knockout. The 19-year-old prodigy worked off a quick jab and led left hook before landing hard counterpunches. After finding his rhythm, Vargas switched to a southpaw and a left to the body to stop Jasso. Time of stoppage: 1:41.
Junior Featherweights: Floyd Diaz (9-0, 3 KOs) overcame a relentless attack from Mexican warrior Luis Fernando Saavedra (9-9, 3 KOs) en route to a six-round unanimous decision victory. Diaz fought off his back foot for the entire fight, using short counterpunches to land between Saavedra’s wide punches. Scores: 80-72 2x and 79-73
Lightweights: Abdullah Mason (8-0, 7 KOs) earned his fourth straight stoppage with a TKO over Desmond Lyons (8-3, 2 KOs) at 32 of the sixth round. The Cleveland southpaw’s relentless offense was too much for Lyons, who had stopped responding to Mason’s punishing shots in the final round, forcing referee Robert Hoyle to halt the fight.
Middleweights: Amari Jones (9-0, 8 KOs) opened the night of action with a sixth-round TKO against Pachino Hill (8-3-1, 6 KOs). Time of stoppage: 1:16.
