‘I Had a Really Dysfunctional Family’: Muhammad Ali’s Daughter Laila Ali Detailed Struggles She Faced When Emotionally Abused Mom ‘Pretty Much Abandoned’ Her in a 2017 Interview

Laila Ali, the fifth daughter of Muhammad Ali, followed in her father’s footsteps to become one of the best female boxers in the sport. The hall of fame inductee retired in 2007 with an undefeated pro boxing record of 24 wins and 21 knockouts. However, despite having a father who is touted as one of the best boxers ever, she had her own struggle to reach the success she did.’

In an interview back in 2017, Laila detailed her struggles during childhood that led her to get involved with the wrong crowd. She stated that this was after her parents got divorced, after which her mother became a part of an abusive relationship while she was left to raise herself.

“I had a lot of trouble growing up. I was hanging with the wrong crowd. I had a really dysfunctional family, my parents divorced. My mom got remarried. She married a man who was abusive, not physically, but emotionally. She started putting that on us basically and pretty much abandoned us as her kids, and we were just raising ourselves. Like, I literally lived in the guest house and nobody woke me up for school. Nobody made sure that I had dinner, nobody did any of that. It was like do your own thing, so I raised myself and I was upset and I was feeling bad obviously and angry at my mom.” she said.

Laila Ali revealed why she acted out after her parents got divorced

Moreover, she added that this resulted in her acting out because she had no one to take care of her. Laila claimed that she had always been independent and wanted to move out of her father’s shadow.

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“I’ve always been very independent and headstrong. It was like I don’t want people to like me because my father’s Muhammad Ali. I would stray away from our group of friends, our wealthy friends that we grew up with. Venture off into the wrong neighborhoods and end up around people. Hey, let’s go shoplifting. I got money in my pocket, but I’m going to go with you. Get it for free? Sure.” Then you get in trouble, and then that’s how that whole thing started.” She added.

Despite all her struggles, Laila’s unwavering will led to her pursuing boxing professionally. Moreover, she even managed to convince her father, who was against her taking up the sport. Muhammad Ali would even be at ringside for her first professional match back in 1999.

What did you think about Laila’s struggles? Let us know in the comments.