| Laila Ali | |
|---|---|
Laila Ali modeling in the 2011 Heart Truth fashion show |
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| Statistics | |
| Rated at | Super middleweight, 72.5 kg[1] |
| Reach | 1.79 m |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | December 30, 1977 Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 24 |
| Wins | 24 |
| Wins by KO | 21 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Laila Amaria Ali (born December 30, 1977) is a retired American professional boxer. She is the daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali from his third wife Veronica Porsche Ali.
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Ali began her boxing career when she was 15 years old. When she first noticed women's boxing she was watching a Christy Martin fight. She first came out about the news on the morning show Good Morning America when interviewing with Diane Sawyer. On the show Ali quoted "I've been contemplating doing it since I was 18, ever since I found out that women boxed". When she first told her father, Muhammad Ali, that she was planning on pursing a boxing career he was not happy about her going into such a dangerous profession. She explained to her father that she was going to box whether he liked it or not. In her first match, on December 8, 1999, she boxed April Fowler of Michigan City, Indiana. They fought at the Turning Stone Casino Convention Center on the Oneida Indian Nation in Verona, New York. Although this was Ali's first match, many media and fans were there, the main reason being because she is Muhammad Ali's daughter. Ali knocked out April Fowler 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 Shadina Pennybaker who is from Pittsburgh. They fought at the Mountaineer Race Track in Chester, West Virginia. Ali ran off eight wins in a row and many boxing fans started talking about wanting to see her square off in a boxing ring with George Foreman's daughter, Freeda Foreman, or Joe Frazier's daughter, Jackie 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. This match by Ali and Frazier was the first pay-for-view match between two black women. During that match, Joe Frazier, Jackie Frazier's father, was there to watch his daughter fight. Muhammad Ali, Laila's father, was not there but her mother Veronica Ali was present to watch the fight.
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 in Las Vegas. On November 9, 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. Mahfood and Ali met in a long-awaited bout on November 8, 2002. A bloodied Mahfood was stopped by Ali in eight rounds in a fight that unified the IWBF world title with the WIBA title.
On June 21, 2003, Mahfood and Ali had a rematch, this time in Los Angeles. Once again bloodied by Ali, Mahfood lost by TKO in six while trying to recover her world title. But at the same time, for the first time in Ali's boxing career, she suffered a bad cut on her right eyelid and a bloodied nose, something no other female boxer has done to Ali to this day. Ali was left with a permanent scar as a reminder of that tough fight she had with Mahfood. On August 23, 2003, Ali fought Christy Martin, beating Martin by a knockout in four rounds.
On July 17, 2004, she retained her world title, knocking out Nikki Eplion in four rounds. Ali dropped Eplion four times before the fight was stopped. 30 July 2004, she stopped Monica Nunez in nine rounds, in her father's native city of Louisville. 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, she added the IWBF Light Heavyweight title to her resume by beating O'Neil (whom she had canceled a fight against) by a knockout in three rounds, at Atlanta, Georgia. Her success led her into a TV show guest star such as in a boxing episode of George Lopez.
On February 1, 2005 in Atlanta, Ali scored a commanding and decisive eighth-round technical knockout over Cassandra Geigger in a ten-round fight. On June 11, 2005, on the undercard to the Tyson-Kevin McBride fight, Ali pounded Erin Toughill into submission in round three to remain undefeated, and won the World Boxing Council title in addition to defending her WIBA crown. (The Ali-Toughill bout is considered one of the most violent female to female fights in history.) She was the second woman to win a WBC title (Jackie Nava was the first). 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. The decision was heavily disputed. The audience booed Ali during her post-fight interview.
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 on an October 2006 date. 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 supposed to fight O’Neil again in Cape Town, on August 5, 2006, but she pulled out amid allegations of fraud. In addition, the local promoter could not raise the final $1,325,000 installment of her $1,525,000 purse. The South African government is investigating the fraud allegations, according to an exposé in the Cape Times.
| 24 Wins (21 knockouts, 3 decisions), 0 Losses (0 decisions, 0 retirement), 0 Draws | |||||||
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Rd, Time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 24-0-0 | Gwendolyn O'Neil | TKO | 1 | 2007-02-03 | Kempton Park, South Africa | |
| Win | 23-0-0 | Shelley Burton | TKO | 4 | 2006-11-11 | New York, New York | |
| Win | 22-0-0 | Åsa Sandell | TKO | 5 | 2005-12-17 | Berlin, Germany | |
| Win | 21-0-0 | Erin Toughill | TKO | 3 | 2005-06-11 | Washington, D.C. | |
| Win | 20-0-0 | Cassandra Giger | 8 | 2005-02-11 | Atlanta, Georgia | ||
| Win | 19-0-0 | Gwendolyn O'Neil | KO | 3 | 2004-09-24 | Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Win | 18-0-0 | Monica Nunez | TKO | 9 | 2004-07-30 | Louisville, Kentucky | |
| Win | 17-0-0 | Nikki Eplion | TKO | 3 | 2004-07-17 | Bowie, Maryland | |
| Win | 16-0-0 | Christy Martin | KO | 4 | 2003-08-23 | Biloxi, Mississippi | |
| Win | 15-0-0 | Valerie Mahfood | TKO | 6 | 2003-06-21 | Los Angeles, California | |
| Win | 14-0-0 | Mary Ann Almager | TKO | 4 | 2003-02-14 | Louisville, Kentucky | |
| Win | 13-0-0 | Valerie Mahfood | TKO | 8 | 2002-11-08 | Las Vegas, Nevada | WIBA, IWBF & IBA title match |
| Win | 12-0-0 | Suzette Taylor | TKO | 2 | 2002-08-17 | Las Vegas, Nevada | IBA title match |
| Win | 11-0-0 | Shirvelle Williams | UD | 6 | 2002-06-07 | Southaven, Mississippi | |
| Win | 10-0-0 | Jacqui Frazier-Lyde | MD | 8 | 2001-06-08 | Verona, New York | First Pay Per View boxing card ever to be headlined by women |
| Win | 9-0-0 | Christine Robinson | TKO | 5 | 2001-03-02 | Verona, New York | |
| Win | 8-0-0 | Kendra Lenhart | UD | 6 | 2000-10-20 | Auburn Hills, Michigan | First time opponent went the distance |
| Win | 7-0-0 | Marjorie Jones | TKO | 1 | 2000-06-15 | Universal City, California | |
| Win | 6-0-0 | Kristina King | TKO | 4 | 2000-04-02 | Guangzhou, China | |
| Win | 5-0-0 | Karen Bill | TKO | 3 | 2000-04-08 | Detroit, Michigan | Ali hit the canvas for the first time in her career |
| Win | 4-0-0 | Crystal Arcand | KO | 1 | 2000-03-07 | Windsor, Ontario | |
| Win | 3-0-0 | Nicolyn Armstrong | TKO | 2 (60) | 1999-12-10 | Detroit, Michigan | |
| Win | 2-0-0 | Shadina Pennybaker | TKO | 4 | 1999-10-11 | Chester, West Virginia | Pennybaker's pro debut |
| Win | 1-0-0 | April Fowler | KO | 1 (15) | 1999-12-08 | Verona, New York | Ali's pro debut |
Ali was named Super Middleweight Champion by the International Boxing Association in 2002 and Super Middleweight Champion by International Women's Boxing Federation in 2005.
Other top women's boxing champions such as Ann Wolfe (24-1), Vonda Ward (23-1), Leatitia Robinson (15-1 pro; 37-1 am), and Natascha Ragosina (22-0) have claimed in interviews that they have challenged Ali many times over the years, but Ali found ways of avoiding them. Boxing writers and fans have repeatedly expressed disappointment in Ali's ducking the top contenders throughout her career.[2][3][4][5][6]
In spring 2002, Ali appeared in a boxing role for the music video "Deny" by Canadian hard rock band Default.[7] The video gained airplay on music channels including MTV2 and MMUSA.
In 2004, Ali appeared on the show George Lopez, where she owned the Gym and had some lines.
In mid-2007, Ali was a participant in the fourth season of the American version of the television show Dancing with the Stars.[8] She had no previous dancing experience. Her professional dancing partner was Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The pair were widely praised by the judges, receiving the first "10" from judge Len Goodman for their rumba. They came in third place in the competition, losing to Apolo Anton Ohno (with Julianne Hough) and Joey Fatone (with Kym Johnson).
Ali is hosted on the revival of American Gladiators alongside Hulk Hogan. The show premiered in January 2008.[9] Ali and the cast of American Gladiators appeared on the NBC show Celebrity Family Feud.
Ali joined the CBS team as a contributing correspondent on The Early Show with her first appearance in early January 2008. Ali hosted The N's Student Body, a reality show on The N.
Ali also appeared in a 2007 episode of Yo Gabba Gabba titled "Train" in a brief dance number. she also appeared on love that girl season3 epiosode4 "fighting shape"
In 2002 Ali wrote (with co-author David Ritz) the book Reach! Finding Strength, Spirit, and Personal Power, meant to motivate and inspire young people. In this book Ali discusses how she felt isolated at times because of her parents fame. Ali has also spent some time in jail. In the book she describes the physical abuse, stinks and arrests that she experienced in jail. Critics say that Ali book has a good foundation to it but she does not give the readers advice in the book, rather she just talks about her own experiences. Ali married Johnny "Yahya" McClain on August 27, 2000. She met McClain through her sister Hana at her father's 57th birthday party. McClain became Ali's manager and helped guide her career. In late 2005 Ali and McClain divorced and McClain quit managing Ali. On July 23, 2007, Ali married former NFL player Curtis Conway in Los Angeles. Ali has three stepchildren with Conway, 15-year-old twin sons Cameron and Kelton and 11-year-old Leilani.[10] On August 26, 2008 Ali gave birth to her son, Curtis Muhammad Conway Jr. On September 29, 2010, Ali announced that she and Conway were expecting their second child together. On April 4, 2011 Ali gave birth to her daughter, Sydney J. Conway.
| Preceded by Valerie Mahfood |
2nd IWBF World Super Middleweight Champion November 8, 2002–2007 |
Current holder |
| 2nd WIBA World Super Middleweight Champion November 8, 2002–2007 |
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| New award | 1st WBC Female World Super Middleweight Champion November 11, 2006–2007 |
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| Preceded by Mike Adamle (1989–96) Dan Clark (1995–96) |
Host of American Gladiators with Hulk Hogan 2008–present |
Incumbent |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joey Lawrence & Edyta Śliwińska |
Dancing with the Stars (US) third place contestant Season 4 (Spring 2007 with Maksim Chmerkovskiy) |
Succeeded by Marie Osmond & Jonathan Roberts |
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