A fight between two inexperienced fighters would usually only garner a little attention outside the local newspaper. But it was not the case for the 21-year-old Laila, the second-youngest of Muhammad Ali’s nine children. Instead, her ring debut drew enormous media interest and brought 3000-odd spectators and journalists together in New York. Then, eight years later, in 2007, Laila Ali hung up her gloves. The last bout against Gwendolyn O’Neil ended with a first-round knockout victory for Muhammad Ali’s daughter. Post-boxing, her ventures in entertainment, were no less successful. But, for the five feet and eleven inches tall former boxer, a hat she wore many summers ago remains the wackiest.

When Laila Ali was a Crew Member

Laila She Bee Stingin’ Ali made her professional boxing debut on October 8, 1999. She fought April Fowler of Michigan City, Indiana, at the Turning Stone Casino Convention Center in Verona, New York. For nearly a decade, she dominated the Super Middleweight division. Finally, a perfect record of twenty-four wins, out of which twenty-one were knockouts, saw her retiring with her WBC and WIBA titles.

Read More: ‘I’m Killing Us All’: Years Later, Laila Ali Realized Just How ‘Stupid and Dangerous’ Muhammad Ali Was Back in the Day

Television host Larry King’s had Laila Ali on his show Larry King Now. Aired years ago, a video clip of the interview shows Laila discussing the best advice she’s ever received, her most formidable adversaries, and the most significant gambles she undertook in her fascinating life.

They started with a rapid-fire quizzing. First, King asked Laila about her ‘childhood celebrity crush’, to which the former champion replied, Morris Chestnut. The next question came, “Weirdest job you’ve ever had.” With the confidence of a person who’s seen all, Laila responded, “… just like you wouldn’t expect McDonald’s my first job was at McDonald’s…” 

Laila Ali wore many hats before she became a champion

So, an independent and ambitious person, Laila took up a job at a McDonald’s outlet in Michigan when she was fifteen. She told Larry that she wanted to earn some spending money of her own when she went to see her father, the great Muhammad Ali, in Michigan during the summers.

Curiosity got the better of the legendary TV host. He asked, “…Did he ever come to your McDonald’s?” And Laila affirmed that The Greatest was crazy about McDonald’s. She believes that even when his Parkinson’s became a bother, he found ways to slip off to the restaurant.

Laila Ali didn’t stop with the job at McDonald’s. In high school, Ali’s daughter decided to learn how to do nails. And by the time Lalia was eighteen, she was running her salon. She planned to turn that venture into a chain, but for the women’s boxing, she saw on television.

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