| Laila Ali
Champion of health and fitness
Champion
boxer
Biography
Laila Ali, a beautiful and tremendous
woman, athlete, and champion of health and fitness, is the perfect role model
for today’s healthy, on-the-go woman. The youngest daughter of Veronica Porsche
Anderson, and of the legendary Muhammad Ali, she is a strong, intelligent,
woman, daughter, and wife. Equally as important, Laila possesses a unique blend
of personality and celebrity status, yet retains an innate sense of being “every
woman”, thus allowing her to connect strongly with the consumer.
While Laila has undoubtedly been the major draw in women’s boxing for years, she
recently took on a new challenge, strutting her stuff in front of nearly 40
million people every week on ABC’s hit show, Dancing With The Stars. A glamorous
and elegant Laila surprised everyone and charged into the finals. Not only did
her grace and tremendous athletic ability translate well to the dance floor, but
it gave the public a wonderful opportunity to view a side of Laila to which they
had never been exposed. Beyond just showing Laila dancing, each week the show
prepared a behind-the-scenes feature, allowing the public to get a taste of
Laila the individual, her sense of humor, her feminism, and her genuineness.
Additionally, the public received a glimpse of Laila’s beauty, seeing her
dressed in ballroom dance gowns, with the glamour of make-up, numerous
hairstyles and costumes. Laila got dressed up one more time this summer, as she
married former NFL star, Curtis Conway, on July 22nd. Laila loves to cook, and has appeared on both Emeril and Rachael Ray in cooking
segments. Her recipes are geared towards a healthy, active lifestyle, and she
cooks most of her own meals so she can control the ingredients. Fitness is another important component of Laila’s life. She recently completed a
cardio workout DVD with boxing legend, Sugar Ray Leonard (available at WalMart,
Kmart/Sears, Best Buy, etc.), and you can regularly find her in the gym
performing Pilates. Her attention to an overall healthy lifestyle has rendered
her an expert in this field.
Laila has appeared in numerous magazines, including TV Guide, Newsweek, Sports
Illustrated, People, Ebony, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Essence, JET,
ESPN the Magazine, and Time.
Laila, a multi-talented entrepreneur, owned and operated a nail salon in
California before entering the boxing profession. Boxing was a major departure
for Laila, who was on her way to the University of Southern California Business
School. She had earned her degree in Business Management at Santa Monica
College, but after watching women’s boxing on television for the first time, she
instantly wanted to step in the ring. About a year later, she sold her business
and started training to become a professional boxer.
Laila made her professional boxing debut on October 8, 1999, and in a sign of
things to come, knocked out her opponent, April Fowler, 31 seconds into the 1st
round. Laila is the current undefeated Super Middleweight Boxing Champion of the
world with a 24-0 record, with 21 knock-outs. In her last fight, on February
3rd, 2007, Laila knocked out her opponent, Gwendolyn O’Neal, in just 56 seconds.
The bout, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, was attended by long time family
friend Nelson Mandela.
On Novemeber 8, 2007 it was announced that Laila will be one of the co-hosts for
NBC's new "American Gladiators" series. Alongside Hulk Hogan, Laila will help
reintroduce this American classic to a new generation of fans.
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