Laila Ali

Laila Amaria Ali is an American professional boxer who was active in the ring during 1998-2007. She holds the super middleweight titles in women’s category across WIBA, WBC, IWBF and IBA championships. Laila Ali also holds the light heavyweight title in the women’s category in IWBF championships. She started-off with boxing at the age of 18 with inspiration from a Christy Martin and Deirdre Gogarty fight on television. Laila made her ring debut in 1999 at the age of 21 knocking out opponent April Fowler within 31 seconds into the first round. She fought her last match in 2007 against Gwendolyn O’Neil knocking out the opponent in the first round. Apart from professional boxing, Ali has gained popularity as a multi-media personality with her television appearances, modeling and book writing ventures. In 2002, she appeared as a boxer in a music video by ‘Default’, the hard rock band from Canada, which gained immense popularity on music channels. Her most popular television appearance was in 2007, when she appeared on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ as a participant partnering with professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy. She continues to work as a health and fitness expert and television show host.