How Muhammad Ali’s youngest daughter Laila carried on her father’s legend like 'the son he never had'

In the wake of boxing legend Muhammad Ali’s death, we look at the daughter who carried the family name back into the ring.

Super middleweight Laila Ali carved out a glittering boxing career

BORN on December 30, 1977, to Muhammad Ali and his third wife Veronica Porsche Ali, Laila Ali would grow up to follow in her father’s footsteps and forge a legendary boxing career. 

Laila, the eighth of Ali’s nine children, was a manicurist at 16, and owned a nail salon and a business degree before she decided to focus on fists rather than fingers.

Laila Ali, right, trades blows with Christy Martin before knocking her out in a fight in 2003

And the daughter of the People’s Champion would go on to retire undefeated with an impressive 24 wins and 21 knockouts under her belt, marking a rise to the top which enshrined the Ali name in female boxing legend.

Laila Ali beats Jacqui Frazier on June 8, 2001

Laila Ali took up boxing when she was 18 years old, after a televised Christy Martin fight inspired her to go professional and carry the Ali family name into women’s boxing.  Her father had reservations at first, and he was concerned about his youngest daughter taking part in the sport which contributed to his debilitating Parkinson’s syndrome.

Laila ‘She Bee Stingin’ Ali is hailed by many as a worthy bearer of her father’s name

However, 5”10 Laila managed to convince her father that she would only fight women, and that she had legendary genes on her side.

I love this photo of my father and my daughter Sydney when she was a baby! 

Thanks for all the love and well wishes. I feel your love and appreciate it!!

She said to him at the time: “Well, Daddy, I want to tell you I'm going into professional boxing, and I love you, and I want your support, and I want to tell you that even if I don't have your support, I'm going to do it anyway.”


Laila Ali’s first match came in 1999 at the age of 21, when she took on on April Fowler at a well-attended venue, with journalists and fans alike eager to see their first glimpse of the daughter carrying boxing’s biggest name.

And the Greatest’s daughter didn’t disappoint, knocking her opponent out in the first round. Referring to her older brother’s lack of desire to fight professionally, Laila was once quoted as saying: “'I'm going to be like Dad's son that he never had.

“I'm the only one who can do it. I've always been a big healthy girl. I've always been aggressive.”  And Laila proved her desire, fight and aggression over and over in the ring, as she racked up eight wins before coming head to head with Joe Frazier's daughter, Jackie Frazier-Lyde, in June 2001.

Billed as a continuation of the famous trilogy of fights between their fathers, the fight was nicknamed Ali/Frazier IV, and was the first main-event pay-per-view match between two women.

Ali would win the fight by majority decision after eight rounds, paving the way for years of domination in the sport as she bagged world titles and left most of her opponents on the floor.

The trailblazing brawler even knocked out her original inspiration, Christy Martin, after four rounds in August, 2003. World Champion Laila’s final fight came in 2007, capping off a sparkling eight year career by defeating Gwendolyn O'Neil in the first round by technical knockout.

However, the super middleweight and light heavyweight fighter has since been criticised by top female boxers for ducking out of big fights, after a series of women’s boxing champions claimed Laila always found ways to avoid tough match-ups.

But many hail Laila ‘She Bee Stingin’ Ali as a worthy bearer of her father’s name, after she helped to catapult female boxing to the mainstream. And Laila, 38, was at her father’s bedside as he passed away at the end of his 32-year battle with Parkinson’s.

Hours before the death of her famed father, Laila Ali posted a throwback photo of Muhammad Ali with her daughter, Sydney, who was born in 2011.

She wrote: "I love this photo of my father and my daughter Sydney when she was a baby! Thanks for all the love and well wishes. I feel your love and appreciate it!!"