Hanan Challouki
He was named after the greatest boxer of all time and he’s making his dreams come true: the British 20-year-old flyweight Muhammad Ali is participating in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He already won bronze at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games.
Great Britain have a boxer on their Olympics team called Muhammad Ali #NoPressureKid
— Lee Costello (@sitelee) August 5, 2016
Ali reserved his spot at the Olympics by winning first-place at the 2016 European Qualifiers. He’s also the youngest on the British boxing team to participate in the Rio Olympics.
The young Muhammad Ali told Irish Mirror: “I’ve always looked up to Ali. He was a good human being. He said what he believed in. I respect that.”
The Irish Mirror asked him what it’s like, having the same name as the boxing legend. Ali answered: “I get asked about it all the time. I won’t say it’s been an advantage, but people do say, ‘Who is this?’.”
Fun fact: if he wins a gold medal, he would be the second Muhammad Ali to do so. The boxing legend won the gold medal at the Olympics in Rome of 1960.
Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) won Gold Medal at 1960 Olympics, Rome: #Getty pic.twitter.com/hOJu5AO0wN
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) August 6, 2016
Good luck Muhammad Ali, bring home the gold!
