Page "Laila Ali" Paragraph 1

Ali began boxing when she was 15 years old.

That was when she first noticed women's boxing ; she was watching a Christy Martin fight.

She first came out with the news on the morning show Good Morning America when interviewing with Diane Sawyer.

On the show Ali said, " 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 to pursue 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, mainly 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 captured 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.