Like dad, Ali's daughter rules the ring

Born into the trappings of fame, Laila Ali readily acknowledges that her career has benefited from being an heir to "The Greatest."

But bloodlines aside, the youngest daughter of legendary former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali has made her own mark inside the ring.

If she's the undisputed face of women's boxing, it's because Laila Ali has built an impressive body of work. The unbeaten super middleweight champion is 23-0 with 20 knockouts and ranked the No.1 female fighter in the world.

"Obviously the Ali name is going to bring attention, but it takes a lot more than a name to succeed in this sport," says Ali, 29, who defends her title Feb.3 in Cape Town, South Africa, against Gwendolyn O'Neil (12-4-1, seven KOs) of Guyana. "People want to see my fights because I've done a good job in the ring."

But while she anticipates starting a family this year with her fiance, former NFL wide receiver Curtis Conway, Ali says she's growing impatient without a real challenge in her boxing career.

Ali says the top contenders in her weight class have refused to fight unless they get a lot of money.

"Everybody kind of looks at me as this cash cow," she says. "I don't blame anybody for wanting to make money. But a lot of these competitive fights that I want haven't happened because these girls don't want to get in unless they make a million dollars."

Nonsense, says the most prominent would-be foe, Ann Wolfe (24-1, 16 KOs). Known as women's boxing's hardest puncher, the Austin-based fighter says she's tried to reach an agreement.

"I truly think Laila doesn't want to fight me," says Wolfe, mother of two daughters. "I don't think she's scared, but I think she knows there's a possibility that she'll get knocked smooth out."

Wolfe, homeless before pulling herself up through boxing, says money has been a sticking issue. "I would be a fool to fight Laila and get $50,000 or $100,000, and she gets $2million," she says.

Ali makes no apologies for her leverage, which she feels she's earned. In a sport known for brutality more than glamour, it has helped her popularity that the 5-10, 168-pounder has a supermodel presence to go with her skills.

Among her endorsements, she sparred against her famous dad, who turned 65 Wednesday, in a special-effects TV commercial for Adidas.

"I've been offered all different types of things, but my thing is to stay focused and concentrate on boxing," she says.

Never one to follow, Ali's headstrong attitude sometimes led to trouble when she was a youngster growing up in Malibu, Calif. At 16, she was busted for shoplifting, and another legal scrape landed her in a juvenile detention hall.

"I wanted to be independent, so I was going to school and doing nails at 12 to make my own money," she says

Ali has eight siblings, but only she and older sister Hana were born to the former champion's ex-wife, Veronica Porsche Anderson. She appreciates that her parents attend many of her fights.

"My dad and I are built a lot alike, but the main thing I got from him is my confidence," says Ali, who also got her nickname "She Bee Stingin" from her dad's well-known refrain "Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee."

"As far as boxing, I'm more of a fighter than my dad was," Laila Ali says. "He was more of a showman. I like to get my opponents out of there."

Her determination, she says, comes from her mom, whom she admires for currently working toward her doctorate degree in psychology. "She's always been a very focused person who goes after what she wants," Ali says.

Ali's career goals changed when she first saw a women's bout on TV.

"I've always had this fighting spirit, and team sports never really appealed to me," she says. "I like that all I have to do is depend on me. So when I saw women boxing for the first time on television, it was right up my alley."

Ali made her pro boxing debut to much fanfare on Oct.8, 1999, with a 31-second knockout of April Fowler. Four years later, she was 15-0 when she assumed the mantle as women's boxing's biggest star, stopping Christy Martin. Two years earlier, Ali beat Jackie Frazier-Lyde. The unanimous decision against Joe Frazier's daughter was the first time a women's bout was the main event of a pay-per-view card.

Ali attributes "60%" of her popularity to her dad, but not everyone thinks she'll take the sport to the next level.

"For some reason, people didn't connect with her like they did with me," Martin says. "People looked at me like I could be the next-door neighbor."

Kery Davis, senior vice president of programming for HBO Sports, observes that one celebrated fighter hasn't been enough. He says there's too much talent disparity and not enough depth.

"The reality is that at this moment women's boxing is an immature sport," Davis says. "We're monitoring it. ... But right now the sport lacks the kind of foundation that can assure quality matchups over a consistent period."

Ali vociferously protested when HBO declined to televise her fight against Shelly Burton in November on the undercard of Wladimir Klitschko-Calvin Brock heavyweight title fight at Madison Square Garden. The network did show highlights of Ali's lopsided TKO victory, "and that was a breakthrough," she says.

"Before I started, a lot of people didn't know women could even fight," she says. "I also changed the idea that for a woman to fight you have to be gay or rough or ugly."

Ali says she plans to take a break for at least a year after her February fight. Her hope is that the top opponents will be ready to fight when she returns. She puts Wolfe and Leatitia Robinson (15-0, 9 KOs) at the top of that list.

"They don't want to fight me, so they can fight each other and see how much money and publicity they get without me," she says. "I'm not going to be around forever. Maybe, they'll be ready to fight by the time I come back."

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