boxer
Personal Information
Born in 1978; daughter of Veronica Anderson and Muhammad Ali; engaged to her manager/trainer, Johnny McClain.
Career
Made her boxing debut on October 9, 1999 in Verona, NY, knocking out April Fowler; trains at L.A.'s Boxing Club.
Life's Work
Despite living in the shadow of her famous father, Muhammad Ali, Laila Ali took it upon herself to break new ground and become a pioneer in women's boxing. Refusing to rely on name-recognition alone, Ali took the boxing world by storm, using grace, athleticism and determination to pave the way not only for herself, but for female fighters worldwide.
Born in 1978, Laila Ali was one of two daughters her former heavyweight champion father had with Veronica Anderson, the third of his four different wives. She grew up in Los Angeles's Hancock Park area with her mother and sister, Hana.
It was Ali's sister, Hana, who was the aggressor, typically roughhousing with her little sister. Ali was described as quiet, usually keeping to herself and playing with dolls. During her teen-age years, Ali became restless and rebellious. She disliked high school and was caught stealing her mother's car on more than one occasion. In 1995, she was arrested for shoplifting and spent three months in juvenile hall. Prior to that, was spending considerable time in the seedy areas of L.A. "Everyone else was trying to get out of the ghetto," Laila told writers Alex Tresniowski and Kelly Carter of People.com. "I was trying to get in."
In 1996, Ali started working at a beauty salon in Marina Del Ray. It was at that time when Ali saw women's boxing champ Christy Martin on television. Ali's friend Joya Settle said seeing Martin motivated Ali. "She was like, 'I can do that,'" Settle told People.com. Ali began a rigorous training regimen, including daily two-mile runs and two-hour gym workouts. That summer, she spent a couple months at her father's 81-acre spread in Berrien Springs, Michigan, training and getting tips from the former champ.
After two years of working with her father, Ali would be ready to break into the ranks of female boxing. She had her debut match on October 15, 1999 against April Fowler in the casino ballroom of an upstate New York Indian reservation. Ali needed only 31 seconds to dispose of her opponent. "After a left-right to the jaw knocked April clear back to last February, the 21-year-old Ali cocked her fists and glowered over her opponent, screaming 'Get up! Get up!' just as her old man hollered over Sonny Liston 34 years ago," Sports Illustrated's Franz Lidz wrote.
Lidz observed that in the ring, Laila Ali has the similar characteristics of her father, while incorporating her own personality. Under the nickname "Madame Butterfly," Ali impressed many with her boxing debut. "Madame Butterfly is brash, brazen and almost as pretty as her pop," Lidz wrote. "At 5'10" and 168 pounds, she can mimic the Greatest's routines--biting her lips as if seething in anger, feigning outrage with widened unblinking eyes--and she certainly shares his playfulness. Asked if she feared being punched on the nose, Laila said 'I have a cute nose already. If it's moved a little to the left or a little to the right, it will still be cute.'"
Ali made her transition to mainstream women's boxing shortly thereafter. She won her second bout on November 10, 1999 at the Mountaineer Race Track in Chester, West Virginia, scoring a technical knockout against Shadina Pennybaker with just three seconds left in the fight.
Exactly one month later, at Cobo Riverfront Ballroom in Detroit, more than 2,200 people watched as Ali ran her record to 3-0. Ali knocked Nicolyn Armstrong down late in the first round with a jab, and followed up with three hard rights. In the second round, according to geocities.com, "Ali battered Armstrong in a corner then knocked her flat on her back." The referee stopped the fight at that point and Ali walked away with the winner's purse of $25,000.
On March 7, 2000, Ali went to a record of 4-0 at the Casino Windsor in Windsor, Ontario. She knocked out countrywoman Cystal Arcand after one minute and ten seconds in the first round. Her opponent started the bout swinging wildly while Ali circled and landed an uppercut combination that sent Arcand to the mat. Ali continued the attack and sent her to the canvas again, this time with a straight right to the head. "I underestimated her," Arcand told geocities.com. "She's got the power and she can back it up. I've never experienced a woman with the amount of power she has."
With four professional wins and all of them knockouts, Ali appeared unstoppable. But when she stepped in the ring at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena on April 8, 2000 against Karen Bill, Ali was brought down to the earth. Bill knocked Ali down in the second round with an uppercut. Even thought she quickly got up and began fighting again, Bill kept tagging Ali with sharp jabs to end the second round. Ali opened a cut above Bill's eye in the third before the referee ended the fight in Ali's favor.
Two weeks later, Ali would defend her unbeaten record against 166-pound Kristina King on April 22nd at Tian He Stadium in Guanghou People's Republic. Ali battered King in the second round and bloodied her in the third, a round where a booming right from Ali knocked out King's mouthpiece. King came out for the fourth round, but the fight was stopped. Jet magazine highlighted the fight, which was Ali's hometown boxing debut: "Ali needed just 68 seconds to put down the 48-year-old Jones as Ali's famous father Muhammad Ali and his former heavyweight rivals sat ringside. The 22-year-old Ali knocked down Jones three times, the last time with a right to the head. The referee didn't bother to count."
About 3,500 fans where in the audience to see the fight, which was on the Oba Carr-Juan Soberanes undercard. After the fight, Ali told Jet she was a little disappointed that the bout didn't go into later rounds. "I feel good, but of course, I would have liked it to last longer," Ali said. "I told the referee to let me knock her out."
Ali's winning streak continued on June 15th at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles when she knocked out 173-pound Marjorie Jones. Her trainer, Deb Huntly, told geocities.com that Ali's intense work regimen and focus on the sport is the foundation to her success. Huntly added that Ali's best punch is a right hand into a left hook. Ali is said to train three hours a day, six days a week. She runs three to four miles daily, jumps rope, spars, and works on punching bags in order to keep up with the super-middleweights.
That work paid off again for Ali on October 13th in Auburn Hills, Michigan. On the undercard of the Mike Tyson-Andrew Golota fight, Ali won a decision against Kendra Lenhart, going the distance for six rounds. Detroit Free Press sports writer Steve Crowe wrote that the first three rounds of the fight had Lenhart clearly ahead of Ali. "For the first three rounds of Ali's six-round survival victory by decision, Lenhart, 34, pressed most of the early action and landed the harder shots," Crowe wrote. "But stamina and punching flurries, especially to Lenhart's body, served Ali well in the later stages." The win moved Ali's record to 8-0, with seven knockouts.
Women's boxing is a growing sport. Promoter Rick Kulis, of Event Sports, told Time that the ladies are receiving just as much fanfare as their male counterparts. "I haven't had a single event were the women haven't received a standing ovation," Kulis said. As the sport takes off, gaining popularity and legitimacy, Laila Ali may very well follow in her father's footsteps, en route to becoming The Greatest herself.
Further Reading
Periodicals
- Jet, July 3, 2000, pg. 52.
- Sports Illustrated, Oct. 18, 1999, pg. R1.
- Time Magazine, May 1, 200, pg. 66.
- Additional information was obtained online at http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/6251/lali.htm and www.people.aol.com/people/990426/features/ali.html.
— John Horn
