Muhammad & Laila
She could see her whole life unfolding: a career in business, Hollywood, maybe. Anything but boxing.
Howdy Sports Stories readers, this week we’re back with another excerpt from the first ever Sports Stories print product: our Dads zine, which is on sale now — and still shipping in time for Father’s Day.
Dads features original writing and art about some great sports dads and their great athlete kids. As literal dads ourselves, and also the figurative dads of this zine, we’re super thankful to everyone who has ordered one so far, and excited to get these into your hands.
Laila Ali never wanted to be a boxer. Of course she loved her father. Of course she respected and admired his accomplishments. And of course it was in her blood all along. But that wasn’t who she was. Nope. Boxing didn’t even occur to her.
Laila had a different plan. She went to cosmetology school. She could see her whole life unfolding: a career in business, Hollywood, maybe. Anything but boxing. Laila didn’t set foot in a boxing ring until she was 18 years old. That’s when she saw the legendary Christy Martin fighting on TV. That’s when everything changed.
She walked into a gym, and discovered it was impossible to leave. For years, Laila trained in secret. It wasn’t going to be enough to just be Muhammad Ali’s daughter. She would have to be her own kind of champion. Laila and her dad had always clashed: their personalities were too similar, too big to fit in a single room.
He thought women shouldn’t be in the ring. She thought he was too traditional. He worried about what might happen when she got knocked down. “I’m going to get back up,” she said. “Just like you did.”
When it came time for Laila’s first fight, Muhammad was there watching. It only took her 30 seconds to knock her opponent out, 30 seconds to change her dad’s mind forever. They locked eyes as she stood in the ring. He came to meet her in the dressing room. “Girl, you bad,” he said.
And she was.
Thanks for reading Sports Stories. We’ll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming.