Not in Favor of Laila Ali’s “Skin Showing,” Muhammad Ali Discouraged His Daughter From Boxing

The former world champion in female boxing, Laila Ali, underwent a lot of hardships to follow her dream of boxing in the days when female boxing was not even considered a sport. Despite this, the 44-year-old, who is also known to her fans as the daughter of Muhammad Ali, channelized her energy in her intended direction and went on to win titles in two weight divisions.

She held WBC, WIBA, IWBF, and IBA super middleweight championships and retired as one of the greatest female boxers of all time. She is a perfect example of the old saying ‘an apple who didn’t fall far from the tree.’ For the general public, Ali winning the title was not a big deal because she comes from the family of the greatest heavyweight champion of all time.

Little did they know, the man who revolutionized the sport all around the world was against her daughter’s decision of becoming a professional boxer. She has often stated how hard it was for her to follow her dream as her father used to consider boxing as a men’s sport. In an interview with Stephen A. Smith, she revealed in dept why her father was not in favor of her becoming a boxer.

 Why did Muhammad Ali resist Laila Ali’s decision to become a professional boxer?

The three-time heavyweight champion influenced both sport and society because of his persona. He was a very reasonable man, but deep down his thoughts were traditional. According to Ali’s daughter, her father did not want her to go in the ring because he was against women showing off their skin.

“You know just the fact of me my dad’s Muslim I’m not, but he is and just me being in sports brown shorts in the ring you know dancing around the ring. He doesn’t like that, you know, with all the skin showing. And then on top of that, you know he just doesn’t first of all my dad is very much into his name and everything he doesn’t want to be embarrassed so he’s just happy,” Ali said.

Though Ali was very traditional when it comes to women, he changed a lot when his daughter started legit boxing and became a world champion.

What do you think of Ali’s take on her daughter in the early years? Let us know in the comments below.

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