Laila Ali


Laila Amaria Ali is an American television personality and retired professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2007. During her career, from which she retired undefeated, she held the WBC, WIBA, IWBF and IBA female super middleweight titles, and the IWBF light heavyweight title. Ali is widely regarded by many within the sport as one of the greatest female professional boxers of all time. She is the daughter of boxer Muhammad Ali.

Early life

Laila Amaria Ali was born December 30, 1977, in Miami Beach, Florida, the daughter of boxer Muhammad Ali and his third wife, Veronica Porché. Her parents divorced when she was nine years old. She was raised as a Muslim, but later left Islam despite her father's initial disapproval. Ali was a manicurist at age 16. Her turbulent childhood of arrests and abuse led to her to living in a group home for girls. She graduated from California's Santa Monica College with a business degree. She owned her own nail salon before she began boxing. According to Ali, her father opposed her decision to become a boxer due to his Muslim faith; in an interview she said, "My father first of all, did not believe that women should be boxing. My father was Muslim, I'm not. He was a little bit of a male chauvinist in a way."

Boxing career

Ali began boxing when she was 18 years old, after having first noticed women's boxing when watching a Christy Martin fight. She first publicized her decision to become a professional boxer in a Good Morning America interview with Diane Sawyer. When she first told her father, Muhammad Ali that she was planning to box professionally, he was unhappy about her entering such a dangerous profession. In her first match, on October 8, 1999, the,, 21-year-old Ali boxed April Fowler of Michigan City, Indiana. They fought at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino on the Oneida Indian Nation in Verona, New York. Although this was Ali's first match, many journalists and fans attended, largely because she was Muhammad Ali's daughter.
Attention to Ali's ring debut was further boosted because it occurred on the eve of what was supposed to be the first male-female professional bout ever to be sanctioned by a US state boxing commission – later ruled an exhibition. As WomenBoxing.com explains: "The near-alignment of the two events focused more attention on female professional boxing than there had been since Christy Martin's 1996 pay-per-view fight with Deirdre Gogarty." Ali knocked out Fowler – described by WomenBoxing.com as an "out-of-shape novice" – in the first round. Ali also won her second match by a TKO with only 3 seconds left on the clock. In that match her opponent was 5'4" Shadina Pennybaker, from Pittsburgh, who was making a pro debut after earning a 2–1 record as an amateur. They fought at the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort in Chester, West Virginia.
Ali captured nine wins in a row and many boxing fans expressed a desire to see her square off in a boxing ring with George Foreman's daughter, Freeda Foreman, or Joe Frazier's daughter, Jacqui Frazier-Lyde. On the evening of June 8, 2001, Ali and Frazier finally met. The fight was nicknamed Ali/Frazier IV in allusion to their fathers' famous fight trilogy. Ali won by a majority judges' decision in eight rounds. Frazier-Lyde ended the fight with a swollen eye while Ali had a fractured left collarbone and a bloodied nose. This match by Ali and Frazier was the first main-event pay-per-view match between two women. After a year's hiatus, on June 7, 2002, Ali beat Shirvelle Williams in a six-round decision.
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 unified the crown by adding the WIBA and IWBF belts with an eight-round TKO win over her division's other world champion, Valerie Mahfood, in Las Vegas. Ali stopped a bloodied Mahfood in eight rounds. On June 21, 2003, Mahfood and Ali fought a rematch, this time in Los Angeles. Once again bloodied by Ali, Mahfood lost by TKO in six rounds while trying to recover her world title. Nevertheless, Ali suffered a bad cut on her right eyelid for the first time in her career, inflicted by Mahfood. Ali also suffered a bloodied nose for the second time in her career during this fight, the first being in Ali's fight with Frazier-Lyde two years previously. On August 23, 2003, Ali fought her original inspiration, Christy Martin, beating Martin by a knockout in four rounds. On July 17, 2004, Ali retained her world title, knocking out Nikki Eplion in four rounds.
On July 30, 2004, she stopped Monica Nunez in nine rounds, in her father's native city of Louisville, Kentucky. This fight was part of the undercard for the fight in which Mike Tyson was surprisingly knocked out by fringe contender Danny Williams. On September 24, 2004, Ali added the IWBF Light Heavyweight title to her resume by beating Gwendolyn O'Neil by a knockout in three rounds, at Atlanta, Georgia. On February 1, 2005, in Atlanta, Ali scored a commanding and decisive eighth-round technical knockout over Cassandra Geiggar in a ten-round fight.
On June 11, 2005, on the undercard to the Tyson-Kevin McBride fight, Ali defeated Erin Toughill in round three to remain undefeated and won the World Boxing Council title in addition to defending her WIBA crown. She was the second woman to win a WBC title. Toughill and Ali disliked each other, and prior to the fight Toughill joked about Ali. Ali promised she would punish Toughill, much like her father did with Ernie Terrell back in 1967. On December 17, 2005, in Berlin, Ali fought and defeated Åsa Sandell by TKO in the fifth round. Following Ali's hard right to Sandell's face with 17 seconds remaining in Round 5, Sandell was struck by numerous undefended shots to her head. The referee stopped the bout with 12 seconds remaining. Muhammad Ali was in attendance and kissed his daughter.
While a guest on Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith on June 7, 2006, Ali announced that she would be making a world tour, and said that she was looking forward to fighting Ann Wolfe in October 2006. However, the fight with Wolfe never materialized. Instead, on November 11, 2006, Ali fought and defeated Shelley Burton by TKO in the fourth round. Ali was rescheduled to fight O'Neil in Cape Town, on August 5, 2006, but Ali pulled out amid allegations of fraud. The match eventually took place in South Africa on February 2, 2007. Ali defeated O'Neil in the first-round by technical knockout. It was Ali's last professional fight.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
24Win24–0Gwendolyn O'NeilTKO1, 0:56Feb 3, 2007Kempton Park, South AfricaRetained WBC female and WIBA super middleweight titles
23Win23–0Shelley BurtonTKO4, 1:58Nov 11, 2006New York City, New York, U.S.Retained WBC female and WIBA super middleweight titles
22Win22–0Åsa SandellTKO5, 1:51Dec 17, 2005Berlin, Germany
21Win21–0Erin ToughillTKO3, 1:54Jun 11, 2005Washington, D.C., Washington, U.S.Retained WIBA super middleweight title;
Won inaugural WBC female super middleweight title
20Win20–0Cassandra GeiggarTKO8, 1:13Feb 11, 2005Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.Retained WIBA super middleweight title
19Win19–0Gwendolyn O'NeilKO3, 1:59Sep 24, 2004Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.Won vacant WIBF light heavyweight title
18Win18–0Monica NunezTKO9, 0:42Jul 30, 2004Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.Retained WIBF super middleweight title
17Win17–0Nikki EplionTKO4, 1:30Jul 17, 2004Bowie, Maryland, U.S.Retained IBA female super middleweight title
16Win16–0Christy MartinKO4, 0:28Aug 23, 2003Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.Retained IBA female super middleweight title
15Win15–0Valerie MahfoodTKO6, 1:17June 21, 2003Los Angeles, California, U.S.
14Win14–0Mary Ann AlmagerTKO4, 0:55Feb 14, 2003Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.Retained IBA, WIBF, and WIBA super-middleweight titles
13Win13–0Valerie MahfoodTKO8, 1:14Nov 8, 2002Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.Retained IBA female super middleweight title;
Won WIBF and WIBA super middleweight titles
12Win12–0Suzette TaylorTKO2, 1:11Aug 17, 2002Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.Won inaugural IBA female super middleweight title
11Win11–0Shirvelle WilliamsUD6Jun 7, 2002Southaven, Mississippi, U.S.
10Win10–0Jacqui Frazier-Lyde8Jun 8, 2001Verona, New York, U.S.
9Win9–0Christine RobinsonTKO5, 1:50Mar 2, 2001Verona, New York, U.S.
8Win8–0Kendra Lenhart6Oct 20, 2000Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S.
7Win7–0Marjorie JonesTKO1, 1:08Jun 15, 2000Universal City, California, U.S.
6Win6–0Kristina KingTKO4, 0:37Apr 22, 2000Guangzhou, China
5Win5–0Karen BillTKO3, 1:40Apr 8, 2000Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
4Win4–0Crystal ArcandKO1, 1:10Mar 7, 2000Windsor, Ontario, Canada
3Win3–0Nicolyn ArmstrongTKO2, 1:00Dec 10, 1999Cobo Center, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
2Win2–0Shadina Pennybaker4, 1:47Nov 11, 1999Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort, Chester, West Virginia, U.S.
1Win1–0April Fowler1, 0:31Oct 8, 1999Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, New York, U.S.