Muhammad Ali had a great appetite for success in boxing and great taste in women, marrying several times. The transcendent boxer had nine children and four wives. Though the heavyweight champ died at the age of 74 in 2016, his memory and the impact he left, lives on through his family.
Muhammad Ali’s Ex-Wife Supports Claressa Shields Against Laila Ali For Personal Reasons
In a wild turn of events, Muhammad Ali’s former wife Khalilah Ali told some content creators that she showed up at Claressa Shields’ fight because she wants to support Shields and encourage her to box Laila Ali and “kick her ass” as payback for her mom stealing the GOAT boxer from her.
“I want to back her up,” Khalilah said about Shields. “I’m backing her up to kick Laila’s ass. I came to see her. You make sure I see her before she leaves. I’ll take her to Dubai to kick Laila’s ass. She’s my hero.”
She continued, “I’m here to see Shields. I want her to kick Laila’s ass.”
Khalilah Ali Was Muhammad Ali’s Second Wife: They Have Four Children
Khalilah is Ali’s second wife and he left her for Laila’s mom, which has left a bitterness that she is looking to kick.
Ali married 23-year-old Sonji Roi in 1964. Roi was reportedly a model for Tan magazine and a cocktail waitress. The two divorced within two years as Ali converted to Islam.
In 1967, Muhammad married 17-year-old Belinda Boyd, who converted to Islam and changed her name to Khalilah Ali. They had four children; Muhammad Ali Jr., Maryum, and twins Rasheda and Jamillah.
Apparently, Ali’s infidelity was too much for her to endure. According to reports, Khalilah and Muhammad were still married when he met Veronica Porché Ali in Zaire in 1974 when Porché was 18 years old. She was one of the poster girls who had promoted the “Rumble in the Jungle” fight against George Foreman. Porché and Ali married in Los Angeles in 1977, the same year that Khalilah filed for divorce.
They had two children — daughters Laila and Hana Yasmeen. They divorced in 1986.
Khalilah still holds a grudge against Veronica, who eventually became Ali’s third wife.
Khalilah Ali Says She Wants Payback Via Claressa Shields and Laila Ali Boxing Match
“Laila’s mama was with my husband (Muhummad Ali) and it’s payback time. It’s payback time. I want everybody to know it,” Khalilah said.
Claressa Shields has done her best to keep women’s boxing in the sports conversation, from her incredible skills to her social media marketing, to her beef with rapper Remy Ma and her relationship with Remy’s estranged husband Papoose, who let Shields into the ring before she demolished her latest competitor Danielle Perkins.
Shields unanimously outpointed the 43-year-old Perkins on Sunday night to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in women’s boxing and remain undefeated at 16-0.
Shields, a two-time Olympic gold medalist with titles in five divisions, was in control of the fight from the start. She knocked down Perkins, landing a right hand on her chin with 15 seconds left in the 10th and final round.
Shields has accomplished everything she can in the sport. She’s run out of competition and getting big pay days has been a challenge. She’s even ventured into MMA fighting to build her brand and get some coin.
The only heavyweight boxer who has put a dent in the women’s boxing game is Muhammad Ali’s daughter Laila, who has been very vocal about Shields’ proclamation that she is the GWOAT (Greatest Woman Of All Time) when it comes to pugilism.
Claressa Shields and Laila Ali Have GWOAT Beef: Will They Slug It Out?
Shields has spoken candidly about the ongoing tension between the two boxing greats.
The animosity between Shields and Ali can be traced back to four years ago, in an interview on Sway’s Universe. The 47-year-old Ali was asked about what she thinks of Claressa Shields. She didn’t give her any props, replying, “First of all, she could never beat me. Let me get that real straight.”
In an interview, the two-time Olympic gold medalist replied, “If you go on boxrec and look at my caliber of opponents and look at her caliber of opponents you’ll see why she’s 24-0 with maybe 23 knockouts. You’ll be able to see why. Because she fought against soccer moms, or probably strippers or something. And I fight real fighters.”
From there, the two legends, who are nearly 20 years apart in age, have been throwing shots back and forth.
On a recent podcast, Ali ended her conversation by offering advice to the Flint, Michigan, native, insisting that she could probably get further in her career if she were to “stop burning bridges.”
“I don’t have any hard feelings against Claressa in general, because I got a lot going on over here, you already know, to be worried about any of these young girls like that,” the 47-year-old woman said. “But at the same time, I see that she gets into it with a lot of people.
Two weeks prior to Shield’s latest victory, she addressed Laila Ali again, accusing her of being jealous of Shields’ success.
“I’ve been come to terms that she’s jealous,” Shields expressed. “Now, I got the biopic. I got the fight coming up. She act like I owe her something, it’s weird.“
“I’m trying to figure out why when it comes to me, here she comes. Today she really offended me. She said burning bridges and if I keep burning bridges, I won’t get very far,” Shields said. “I’ve gotten further in my career and in my life than Laila Ali. … She wanna come and give this big sister advice … but I’ve already made it further than you. … And I’m going to keep making it further than you.”
The self-proclaimed “GWOAT” then asserted that, “This is my era now, and she has never supported me in my era,” before ending her lengthy rant.
Now that the mini-feud between Ali and Shields is still going, Khalilah Ali hopes to get some vindication through Shields’ taking on Laila in the ring.
Long live the champ.