Muhammad Ali’s daughter, who retired from boxing in 2007, has come under fire lately for ducking a fight with a fighter who calls herself the ‘Greatest Woman of All Time’.
Muhammad Ali‘s daughter, Laila Ali, boxed from 1999 to 2007, amassing a record of 24-0 with 21 knockouts.
She was a world champion and held a win over Christy Martin, who is the subject of an upcoming Hollywood biopic.
She retired after a win over Gwendolyn O’Neil in South Africa and has not stepped into a ring for 18 years. Despite that, there is one boxer who continues to call out Ali.
Claressa Shields scolds Laila Ali for letting women’s boxing die
Claressa Shields has called out Laila Ali ahead of her upcoming fight with Lani Daniels in defense of her undisputed heavyweight titles.
Shields stated that a fight with Ali was in talks, but that she has since gone quiet. Shields offered Ali $15 million to come out of retirement and face her.
Shields, who has been in a feud with Ali for a while, criticized the 47-year-old daughter of a legend, and said,
“She’s a pioneer, but she’s not relevant right now. It’s many girls that have come after her, and honestly, you know, the people give her props about how she built up women’s boxing and I just don’t feel the same way.”
Shields spoke on how she fought in 2017, and prior to that, “there wasn’t a woman that have fought on TV in 20 years, and that was [Laila Ali] So it’s like, what did you really do for women’s boxing? Like you let it die.”
The match-up is a strange one, though, as Ali is nearly 50 years old and hasn’t boxed in almost 20 years, whilst Shields is 30 and the current heavyweight champion.
Claressa Shields vs Laila Ali – The stats
Though this is a fight that will likely never happen, and should never happen for the health of Ali, it’s interesting to see how the two compare.
Both Ali and Shields have accomplished a lot in their careers, with Shields being a four-division undisputed champion. Both sit alongside Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano as some of the most well-regarded female fighters in boxing.
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