Laila Ali

Laila Amaria Ali, born December 30, 1977, in Miami Beach, Florida, is an American television personality and retired professional boxer. She fought from 1999 to 2007, retiring without a loss. During her career, she held the WBC, WIBA, IWBF, and IBA female super middleweight titles, as well as the IWBF light heavyweight title. Many in the sport consider her one of the greatest female boxers ever. She is the daughter of Muhammad Ali.

Ali’s parents, Muhammad Ali and Veronica Porché, divorced when she was nine. Raised Muslim, she later left the faith despite her father’s initial disapproval. At 16, she worked as a manicurist, and a difficult youth involving arrests and abuse led her to live in a group home. She earned a business degree from Santa Monica College and owned a nail salon before boxing. Her father opposed her boxing career due to his Muslim beliefs; Ali said he did not think women should box and described him as somewhat of a male chauvinist.

She started boxing at 18 after seeing a Christy Martin fight. She announced her professional plans on *Good Morning America*. Her father was unhappy about the dangerous profession. Her first match was on October 8, 1999, against April Fowler at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York. At 5-foot-10 and 166 pounds, the 21-year-old Ali knocked out Fowler, described as an out-of-shape novice, in the first round. The bout drew large crowds and media attention because she was Muhammad Ali’s daughter, and it occurred near a controversial male-female bout. She won her second match by TKO with three seconds left against Shadina Pennybaker.

After nine straight wins, fans wanted to see her fight Freeda Foreman or Jacqui Frazier-Lyde. On June 8, 2001, Ali faced Frazier-Lyde in a match dubbed Ali/Frazier IV. Ali won by majority decision over eight rounds. Frazier-Lyde ended with a swollen eye; Ali had a fractured left collarbone and a bloodied nose. It was the first women’s main-event pay-per-view match. After a year off, she beat Shirvelle Williams in a six-round decision on June 7, 2002.

She won the IBA title with a second-round knockout of Suzette Taylor on August 17, 2002, in Las Vegas. On November 8, she retained that title and added the WIBA and IWBF belts with an eight-round TKO of Valerie Mahfood. In a rematch on June 21, 2003, in Los Angeles, Ali stopped a bloodied Mahfood in six rounds, though Ali suffered a cut on her right eyelid and a bloodied nose. On August 23, 2003, she knocked out Christy Martin in four rounds. She retained her title by knocking out Nikki Eplion in four rounds on July 17, 2004.

On July 30, 2004, in Louisville, Kentucky, she stopped Monica Nunez in nine rounds on the undercard of a Mike Tyson fight. On September 24, 2004, in Atlanta, she added the IWBF Light Heavyweight title by knocking out Gwendolyn O’Neil in three rounds. On February 1, 2005, in Atlanta, she scored an eighth-round TKO over Cassandra Geiggar. On June 11, 2005, on the undercard of Tyson vs. Kevin McBride, she defeated Erin Toughill in three rounds to win the WBC title and defend her WIBA crown, becoming the second woman to win a WBC title. She promised to punish Toughill, who had joked about Ali. On December 17, 2005, in Berlin, she defeated Åsa Sandell by TKO in the fifth round, landing a hard right and following with undefended shots before the referee stopped the bout.