Muhammad Ali was arguably the best boxer in the history of the sport. Thus, it shouldn’t be surprising that his daughter, Laila Ali, also succeeded in making her mark in boxing. She was a pioneer in women’s boxing, competing in 24 bouts and retiring with an undefeated record in 2007.

However, The People’s Champ wasn’t always supportive of his daughter picking up the sport. In an interview with access back in 2020, she revealed that her father didn’t want her to compete as a boxer because he thought that it wasn’t a sport for women.”A lot of people don’t know, my dad tried to talk me out of it. And when that didn’t work, he said to me, you shouldn’t do it. It’s not for women. It’s a man’s sport. That’s the way he thought about boxing and women.” She said.

Laila Ali reveals what made Muhammad Ali respect her

Despite his initial skepticism, things changed after Laila started winning championships. She added that her father started getting more involved in her career after her seeing her succeed. “when I won my championships he said, I’m sorry, I was wrong. You can fight. Women can fight. And I do a lot of speaking around the country, and that was the first time I actually cried on the stage.” She added.

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She then stated that if she would have listened to her father instead of herself, she would never have reached the success she did. “Imagine if I would have listened to him cause he was putting a limit on me I don’t care if you’re Muhammad Ali it’s my life so I took that stand I was proud of myself then he was just like yeah women can fight,” said Laila

In a sport like boxing where the athlete’s life is always at risk, might have had something to do with Ali not wanting his daughter to compete in the sport. The People’s Champ was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1984 and many have claimed that the punches he received during his career were the reason for this. Although Ali passed away at the age of 74, he suffered the majority of his later years paralyzed and handicapped.

What did you think about Laila winning her father’s respect? Let us know in the comments.

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