Titus O’Neil has been named as a finalist for the 2020 Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award. The award was formerly known as the Sports Humanitarian of the Year Award. It was renamed in 2017 to honor Ali.
The award is annually “given to an athlete whose continuous, demonstrated leadership has created a measured positive impact on their community through sports. The candidate must embrace the core principals that Muhammad Ali embodied so well, including confidence, conviction, dedication, giving and respect.”
Other finalists for the award this year include Nelson Cruz, Kevin Love, Devin & Jason McCourty, and Maya Moore.
Past winners of the award include Chris Long, Kevin Durant, Mark Giordano, and Chris Paul.
Titus O’Neil’s Life Of Hardship & Charity Work
O’Neil spoke to Sports Illustrated the wake of being named a finalist for the award. He talked about how a harsh upbringing helped make him the person he is today.
“For those that don’t know, I’m the product of sexual assault,” said O’Neil. “My mother was raped at 11 years old and had me at the age of 12 against the wishes of many. Life was very tough for me growing up impoverished in government housing, and I was mad at the world.”
“Slowly, I started to believe in myself, and that’s when I learned there were people in the world who wanted to help me for no other reason than to see positive outcomes.”
Titus O’Neil’s last WWE match was in April. He competed in the last chance MITB qualifying gauntlet match.
