Laila Ali (born December 30, 1977), is the daughter of the boxer many consider to be the greatest fighter of all time, Muhammad Ali.
Laila Ali, who is a personal trainer in Los Angeles, surprised the boxing world in 1999 by announcing she would try a hand at women's boxing.
To much fanfare, Laila Ali made her debut on October 8 of that year, knocking out April Fowler in the first round. She rallied off 8 wins in a row, and many among boxing's fans started talking about wanting to see her and George Foreman's daughter, Freeda Foreman, or Joe Frazier's daughter, Jackie Frazier-Lyde square off in a boxing ring. On the evening of June 8, 2001, Laila Ali and Frazier finally met, in a fight that became the first time a women's boxing fight was the main event of a Pay Per View event in history, a fight which was also nicknamed Ali/Frazier IV in allusion to their fathers' famous fight trilogy, and a fight which was part of the International Boxing Hall Of Fame induction weekend's activities.
Laila Ali won by an eight round majority decision, and then took off almost one year, returning 364 days later to beat Shirvelle Williams by a six round decision and become the WIBA's world Super Middleweight champion. She retained that title with a two round knockout of Suzzette Taylor on August 17 at Las Vegas, and on November 9, Laila Ali retained that title and added the WIBF belt by unificating the crown with an eight round knockout win over her division's other world champion, Valerie Mahfood in Las Vegas, Nevada.
