Following his narrow win over Sona Acare, Niko Ali Walsh took aim at both Teofimo Lopez and Jake Paul.
Walsh scored a left hook knockdown in the third round against middleweight Akar on the undercard of his WBO title defense against Steve Clagett on Saturday night in Miami Beach.
Akerle had won a six-round bout against Walsh in August, but Walsh got revenge at the James L. Knight Center, winning a close contest on the scorecards despite dislocating his left shoulder in the sixth and final round.
In a post-fight interview, Walsh, the grandson of Muhammad Ali, slammed those who felt he was in boxing just to make money.
“I want to be clear about one thing: Teofimo Lopez, in an interview a few weeks before this fight, said I was in boxing because I was desperate for money and fame and disrespected my family. I feel really wrong that someone I once looked up to would say something like that,” Walsh said. “But that's the way it is.”
“I just want everybody to know, I chose boxing, I chose the path of legend. I could be a millionaire right now if I wanted to. Before this fight, I turned down a multi-million dollar contract from MVP Promotions to fight Jake Paul. And tonight, I'm fighting a real fighter. I'm not part of a boxing circus league. This is a real boxing league and this is what I'm going to do.”
Walsh won by scores of 58-55 once and 57-56 twice, but Akare felt he had done enough to repeat the victory.
“I don't know what happened. I've never been through anything like this and the injury just popped out, but I survived and I definitely beat him. I don't know what he's upset about,” Walsh said of his shoulder injury.
“If it had happened to him I think I would have cried like a baby, sat on the ground and quit the fight, but it happened to the right person and I'm just happy with the win. Now I feel like I've won twice because the first time was by decision but I felt like I won.”
The crowd booed Walsh during the interview, and when asked if he would face Akar, who has a record of 9-2 (4 KOs), Minnesota, again in the finals, Walsh, who has a record of 10-1 (5 KOs), responded, “I feel like I've beaten him twice before, but if this fight doesn't prove that, then I'm open to fighting anyone.”
