I think that if you do want to be a fighter, then you need to work harder than everybody else and make sure that you surround yourself with good people, especially if you're a woman. You've got to find a team that takes you seriously as a female fighter and is not going to rush you into the ring before you're ready.
Laila Ali
Focus on being balanced - success is balance.
People who are fit are the same as anyone else. The only difference is their level of commitment. If looking good and being fit was easy, everyone would do it! Most people don't want to put in the work or make the sacrifices needed in order to be fit.
Authenticity is very important - be true to one's self.
By being an athlete, I have uncovered so many other ways to express my beauty. Being a strong, fearless woman makes me feel beautiful. I love the way I look and feel when I am two hours into my training and my skin is glistening with sweat and my clothes are drenched because I have given it all I've got.
I never ran with my dad. He was old-school. He had a whole different idea of training. He ran in steel-toed boots! But, of course, he's proud of me and proud of the boxer that I became.
I was never offended that people underestimated me because of my appearance or that they thought I was pretty and discouraged me from fighting because they didn't want me to risk hurting my looks.
All fighters run. The constant motion prepares you for being in the ring. And running strengthens your legs. Punching power comes from your lower body.
My dad is a comedian, entertainer, you know. He always likes to make people laugh. With me, it just depends on what mood I'm in. You get what you get.
I have to get a workout in in the morning. Once my day starts, I'll have the best intentions, and it still won't happen: one of the kids needs to be picked up somewhere, I have to hop on a conference call, or I'm just tired. So I get it done in the A.M.
I don't like crazy names. I don't like them. I don't think it makes any sense. You have to think about the child and, as they get older, what they have to deal with. A lot of people do things as a fad, and they want to get some attention, but it's like, this is your child.
Running is my time for myself. I'm like, 'I'm going for a run!' and my husband knows I'm out of there.
I'm not one of those women who's like pro women. I'm an individual, and I'm in an individual sport. So I see everyone as individuals, not as male or female.
I understand that the average person can't imagine damaging their looks in any way if it could be avoided. But I don't value my physical beauty to the point where I would not do something I truly enjoy because I'm afraid of potentially hurting something superficial.
I saw women's boxing on television for the first time when I was 18, and that's when I wanted to do it. So, it didn't come from me watching my father. I didn't know the sport existed; therefore, I wasn't really interested in it until I saw it.
If you knew you could change your lifestyle and diet and avoid heart disease and other things, you should do it.
I think that the greatest lesson I learned from my father is just having compassion towards people.
While I was boxing professionally, I never thought about my looks. The furthest thing from my mind was 'messing up my pretty face' when I was on my way to the ring to meet my opponent. Yet, people I'd meet along the way would always ask me if I was worried about my looks. Then they would go on to say that I was 'too pretty to box.'
I do my best to work out 5 days a week. There are times when I can only get in 3 days a week because I am traveling or just need rest due to a hectic schedule. But working out is always a priority, and if I fall off due to my schedule, it is not long before I get back on track.
Everybody wants recognition, but we can't all get it.
Anyone who's seen me before knows that when it's fight time, I don't have much to say.
'All in With Laila Ali' is educational, inspirational, compelling programming profiling individuals that have reached for the sky, pushed themselves to the limit and did things that you would think were impossible.
Pregnancy isn't 'I can eat whatever I want,' because you have to remember you're going to be stuck with a lot of that weight afterwards that you need to try to get off.
I don't really try to tell people whether they should fight. It's definitely not for everybody.
My dad is an excellent grandfather. He loves kids. He loves to kiss them to death.
My kids know the importance of being active - and that's why teaming up with the USTA was such an organic fit for me. They are making strives to get families outside - and using tennis as a way to get kids to stay active.
Since I was a child, my father was sick. I've always known him to be that way. That's why I'm proud of him - he has a disease he's obviously struggling with, but he's not letting it stop him from doing what he wants to do.
I like to play by my own rules.
My dad lived by example. I lived by watching him. I watched all the great things he did and said. I try to walk that talk for my children.
I'm not a team sports person type person, so I probably would have been good at tennis, because I like tennis. But my parents really didn't push me. I think if my parents would have guided me and stay committed, I could have played any sport I wanted to, but I never did.
I've had people in the family, male and female, impacted by heart disease. But people can prevent it.
I want to encourage women to take control of their health.
I'm Muhammad Ali's daughter, but my father and I are very different in that area. I don't necessarily try to put on a show. That's what my father's thing was, and he was great at it. Everything I say is because I feel it, and it comes out of my mouth. It's not scripted.
I never intended to box forever, and always planned to move on to do other things.
You have to fight for your health and stay on top of it. Our bodies are meant to be healthy.
People like to see me fight. A name can only take you so far. There are only a few fighters out of the thousands of boxers out there that have name recognition. I'm definitely not upset by that.
I wasn't in shape at all before I decided to do boxing. I wasn't an athlete. Before boxing, I would go to the gym for a month and stop.
I love engaging in conversation with other moms because we can relate to one another, and we swap valuable insight and information.
I'm private in the sense that I like my personal space and only want people in the parts of my business that I choose to share. Anything I feel is too personal to share publicly, I keep to myself.
My father loves people. No matter what their race, no matter what their position in life, he treated everyone with kindness and love and respect. And that was instilled in me just by watching him.
I'm a professional world champion. Of course if you're a world champion, you're working harder than everybody else. You're making the commitment, and you're making the sacrifices. If it were easy, everybody would be able to do it. Everybody would be able to be world champion, but everybody can't be. Everybody doesn't have it in them.
We shared our father with the world.
I don't play video games. My husband does. He plays sometimes the football, and every once in a while when he gets bored, he'll do a little boxing in there. He gets into the football. You can trade players, and he keeps up with the whole aspect of the game, not just the game. He's a fanatic.
I have cravings all the time, even when I'm not pregnant.
