Muhammad Ali seeks gold for grandfather tribute

British boxer Muhammad Ali has set his sights on gold — in honour of his grandfather, who died ringside while watching him fight.

The 20-year-old, named after the late sports legend by his boxing-mad father, has his first fight in the bantamweight competition on Monday. He spoke to the Standard about how his grandfather, also called Muhammad, suffered a heart attack while watching him in one of his first competitive fights in Birmingham.

Ali said: “My grandad passed away watching me box in Birmingham when I was 14. It was going into the last round on the break and it all went quiet, and I thought, ‘What’s going on here?’ I looked outside [the ring] and he was just on the floor. I turned to my brother and he said it was fine, he’s just collapsed, and to just get in the ring and do what you do [for the final round]. I went into the last round just getting beaten up.

“When we went to the hospital after the fight, we were told he’d had a heart attack and he’d passed away. I think that’s the worst and hardest thing I’ve had to go through.”

Ali, who is fighting in his first Olympics, added: “I just feel like I’ve got to do it for him now as well and not just for me... I’ve got to do it for him 100 per cent. When that happened it made me push on even more.”

Ali trains at the same gym, Bury ABC, as Athens 2004 silver medallist Amir Khan and says watching his performance during those Games was among his first boxing memories.