Alycia Baumgardner‘s return to the boxing ring after a hiatus of more than a year didn’t turn out as expected. The undisputed super featherweight champion’s second title defense against Delfine Persoon on September 27 at Lux Stage at Trilith Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia, was turned into a no-contest. The fight didn’t go the distance as Persoon suffered a cut above her right eye during the halfway mark of the fourth round due to an accidental head butt. The ringside doctors ruled the cut was too deep for the fight to continue. Although she was disappointed that she wasn’t able to finish the job, Alycia Baumgardner vowed “to be back in the ring” soon.

The past couple of months have been a roller coaster ride for Alycia Baumgardner. Dealing with the death of her father and fighting accusations of consuming PEDs ahead of her previous fight against Christina Linardatou. However, the temporary suspension against her was lifted, and she was then cleared of any wrongdoing. The WBC declared that she did not “intentionally” consume any banned substance. She was thus allowed to return to the ring again.

As the Ohio native is a pretty big name in boxing, there was another legendary boxer who was in attendance ringside. The late-legend Muhammad Ali‘s daughter, and former super middleweight champion Laila Ali also joined the event on Friday. Looking immaculate in a green dress, she was there to cheer Baumgardner on. The staunch advocate of healthy living even met her after the match ended, sharing words of encouragement. Taking to her Instagram, and sharing a picture of her and Baumgardner, Laila Ali stated, “So proud watching you in action, live champ! Keep shining and pushing women’s boxing forward. You embody excellence as an athlete, fighter, and role model. “

Acknowledging the high praise from such a legend, Alycia Baumgardner took to X, shared a picture of them together, and captioned it, “Real game, for real folk!” While boxing fans were happy to see the retired boxer and the current undisputed super-featherweight champion in one frame, they couldn’t help but drag in another champion’s name.

Battle of the undisputed?

One fan wanted Alycia Baumgardner to re-ignite her feud with Claressa Shields. They commented, ” Should we look for a fight btw U& @Claressashields.” However, the fight between the two fighters seems damn near impossible at the moment because Baumgardner is currently fighting at super-featherweight while Claressa Shields has already made inroads into a heavyweight championship.

A user paid Alycia Baumgardner a huge compliment by stating that she is a better fighter than Laila Ali herself. They wrote, “You’re better than she was.” Safe to say, there is a long way to go before Baumgardner can be compared to Laila Ali. Ali retired from boxing undefeated, winning multiple world titles at super-middleweight, and light-heavyweight.

Witnessing two elite boxers in one frame, one user commented, “Real Recognise Real.” Indeed, both boxers had to go through a lot of adversity and did a lot of hard work to get to where they are in their lives.

This fan reminded the boxing community of the time when the two-division undisputed champion, Claressa Shields, called out Laila Ali. They remarked, “You know who gonna call out Laila again after seeing this.” In 2020, Shields called out Ali. However, Laila Ali, who was 42 at that time and happily retired from boxing, was only interested in taking the fight if the fight purse was “inspiring”. The user was of the belief that seeing Laila Ali cozying up to her rival Alycia Baumgardner, Shields might just decide to call out Laila Ali once again.

As is in all cases, one user brought up her PED fiasco to state that Alycia Baumgardner wasn’t a real champion. They declared, “Your body look different not on PEDS and you moved much slower in this fight. YOUR NO REAL CHAMPION.” Well, as things stand, Baumgardner has been cleared of any charges pertaining to consumption of PEDs. So the charge from the user may not stick anymore.

Nevertheless, Alycia Baumgardner would be happy that she got to get back in the ring again. On the other hand, to have Laila Ali’s support must have been an icing on the cake.

Who do you think is the better boxer—Laila Ali or Alycia Baumgardner? Let us know in the comment section below.