June marks the five-year anniversary of Muhammad Ali’s death and his daughter Rasheda Ali Walsh has chosen Father’s Day to pick a fight with Parkinson’s disease — the one rival her dad couldn’t whoop.
“Father’s day is bittersweet for me because I miss my father,” the 51-year-old showbiz personality told the Daily News from her Las Vegas home, where a painting of the former heavyweight champ by artist Richard T. Slone hangs.
Rasheda Ali Walsh, daughter of Muhammad Ali, delivers a eulogy during the memorial service for her boxing legend father at the KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Ky. on June 10, 2016. (MICHAEL B. THOMAS/)
From Thursday through June 24, a non-fungible token of that portrait of her father will be auctioned at Rarible.com to benefit Parkinson’s research as well as inner-city boxing programs. Slone, a former boxer himself, trained with Ali’s rival Joe Frazier.
Ali Walsh admits the concept of an “NFT” is a bit foreign to her — they are unique digital files that can be endlessly copied — but she does know whoever buys it will be getting an authentic item, unlike the “autographed” photos of her dad making the rounds. She estimates 80% of the signed items buyers have shown to her over the years have been fakes.
The painting of Muhammad Ali by Richard J. Slone that Ali's daughter is auctioning off as a non-fungible token to benefit Parkinson's Disease research. (Handout/)
“To this day, I see so many forgeries out there,” Ali Walsh explained. “I don’t have the guts to tell them.”
According to Ali Walsh, her dad was fond of the 2012 painting of him and that “his eyes lit up” when he first saw it.
“Of course my dad’s favorite subject is himself,” she half joked. “He liked looking at how pretty he is.”
Slone created three versions of the Ali portrait being sold, one of which the winning bidder of the NFT will also receive. The painting and digital asset combined could bring in a “high six figure” payout, according to an auction organizer. Slone’s Ali portrait is captioned with the quote, “When you’re as great as I am, it’s hard to be humble.”
Muhammad Ali was 74 when he died in Arizona on June 3, following a long battle with Parkinson’s. He announced his diagnosis in 1984, which was three years after he’d retired from boxing. His daughter said she doesn’t know to what extent fighting contributed to the champ’s demise and that’s part of why she’s raising money for research.
Muhammad Ali watches a younger version of himself on a big screen with amazement as his daughter, Rasheda Ali-Walsh, looks on at the media opening of the Muhammad Ali Center on November 18, 2005 in Louisville, Kentucky. (David L. Lutman/)
“My dad didn’t think Parkinson’s was a result from him boxing,” Ali Walsh said. “We don’t know.”
Ali Walsh likes to think about all that the fight game gave to her family, rather that what it may or may not have taken away.
“I love the sport,” she said.
Her son Nico Ali-Walsh recently became a fighter and some proceeds from the auction will also benefit future pugilists. According to Ali, the sport is evolving from during her dad’s day when “Spartan” boxers didn’t commonly train in head gear and fought 15 round fights, as opposed to the 12 round bouts seen today. She also believes boxers’ careers can last too long for their own health.
“My dad started boxing when he was 12 — he stayed in a little too long,” she said. “My dad loved it. He stayed past his prime.”
Ali Walsh also notes that other members of her family have battled Parkinson’s syndrome and they weren’t professional boxers. If not for his having gone toe-to-toe with other giants like Frazier, George Foreman and Ken Norton, Muhammad Ali would not have been able to impact the world socially and politically, both she and her father felt.
“I’m glad he boxed because it turned him into the person (we know) today,” she said. “I have no regrets, he had no regrets. He said ‘I’m bigger than boxing’ and he was right.”
Ali Walsh, along with her twin sister Jamillah Ali Joyce, are featured in the new documentary “City of Ali,” which focuses on Muhammad Ali’s importance as a public figure and a humanitarian.
If Ali were alive today, his proud daughter has no doubt he would have been trying to knock-out racism, Islamophobia and other issues of his day that are always up for a rematch.
“He didn’t worry because he knew things were always going to work out,” she said.