Laila Ali had a tough childhood, regardless of being the daughter of the sporting world’s greatest icon, Muhammad Ali, is commonplace knowledge. She was born on 30th December 1977 to Ali and his third wife, Veronica Porche. She inherited her famous father’s fiercely independent streak.

Although born in Miami, Florida, Laila lived with her stepfather and mother in California. Porche, post her divorce from Ali in 1986, married her second husband, singer-actor Carl Anderson, in 1992. She was a rebel of sorts in her youth. The former super middleweight champion has had no qualms discussing the details of her early life in what she called a ‘dysfunctional’ family.

Laila Ali’s early life with father Muhammad Ali

Three years ago, ultra-endurance athlete, best-selling author, and podcaster Rich Roll invited Laila Ali for an interview. The informal chat started with Laila’s forays into podcasting. Laila shared that despite her best foot forward, things didn’t turn how she wanted. She spoke about her post-boxing career in hosting shows and participating in reality shows like Dancing with Stars.

She spoke about her show ‘Home Made Simple’. She had hosted several other shows, but it remains her favorite since it allowed her to interact with many people.

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Eventually, the conversation moored at Muhammad Ali. Rich mentioned, “I was struck by, you know, just the beauty and the elegance with which he lived his life…I would imagine that there’s great things about that and there’s also like a lot of challenges that you probably wish you know you could just whisk away.”

Laila replied that she’s never felt that to be unendurable or testing. She dispelled the common myth that her father indulged her. Despite having many of her famous father’s traits, she turned out to be the most dissident one.

Laila elaborated on the ‘three-big meetings’ she had with Ali. The first was her not accepting her father’s adopted faith. Then growing up, she left her house and moved in with a partner. Finally, the father-daughter duo’s winding-up conversation landed over her choice of boxing as a career.

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Muhammad Ali infamously tried to talk his daughter out of boxing. Finally, despite several heated arguments with her father about not pursuing it further, Laila Ali decided to forge ahead. However, Ali reconciled with his daughter’s decision when she won her second title.

A poor behavioral record finds Laila Ali at different schools

Rich asked whether Laila had been an active athlete during her school days, to which the former champion responded a categoric “no”. She said, “…I was too busy being bad at school I was always what were you in there oh my god ditching you know I had a very dysfunctional childhood…”

She further explained that she had to attend several high schools because of her bad behavior, especially picking up fights. Probably a dysfunctional family, a stepfather whom she described as an ‘a**h*le,’ and constant relocation turned her into the fighter she became renowned for.

Watch Out for More: Laila Ali decided to go ahead with a career in boxing despite her father, The Greatest’s reservations.