Ali's Daughter Gets Quick KO

They called Muhammad Ali "The Greatest." Just call his daughter "The Quickest."

With her father watching from ringside, 21-year-old Laila Ali made her pro boxing debut by knocking out April Fowler at 31 seconds of the first round Friday night before about 2,800 fans at the Turning Stone Casino Convention Center.

"I feel good and I'm ready for more," Ali said. "I'm kind of disappointed it ended so quick."

After the fight, Ali said her father told her he was proud of her, adding: "From the look in his eyes, I knew he was proud of me. He was surprised."

It was no fight at all. Fowler, a waitress from Michigan City, Ind., was inept in the ring, often turning her head as she punched. Ali speared her with several jabs and then knocked her out with a left-right to the jaw.

"I don't even know which punch I did knock her out with. The first thing I asked was, `What did I knock her out with? Which punch did it?"' she said.

When Fowler hit the floor, Ali, who weighed 166 pounds, stood over her with her fist cocked, reminiscent of how her father stood over a KO'd Sonny Liston in the first round of their rematch in 1965.

Ali and his wife did not attend a post-fight news conference, but Laila's sister, Hana, and another of Ali's daughters, Mia, attended. So did Veronica Kennedy, Laila's mother who was Ali's third wife.

"I thought it was great," Kennedy said. "She actually looked like her father when she boxed."

While the daughter was in the co-featured match, it was the father who drew the crowd.

"I thought my legs would be shaking, but they weren't," she said of her debut.

Her mother said she had a feeling of deja vu.

"Because I've been there before, it reminded me of the past," she said.

Shortly before 9 p.m., as the ring announcer acknowledged "a man who needs no introduction," the crowd rose to its feet, cheering.

Muhammad Ali then entered the ring with his wife Lonnie. Also accompanying him was Hana.

Laila's mother sat on the other side of the ring from Ali.

Laila Ali, who owned a nail salon in Los Angeles, said she got interested in boxing when she took it up as exercise to lose weight.

It has been suggested that she is exploiting one of the most famous names in sports. In a TV appearance earlier in the week, however, she said, "It is my name, too, so I don't feel I'm exploiting anything."

Fowler, fighting for just the second time she was knocked out in the first round 18 months ago had said she expects to be back serving tables at her restaurant Saturday night. Fowler, who is divorced, also said she plans to celebrate her son's ninth birthday Sunday.

The fight preceded a 10-round heavyweight match between Donovan "Razor" Ruddock and Jose Ribalta. Ruddock knocked down Ribalta twice and stopped him at 1:49 of the first round.

There was no question, however, that the main attraction was the Ali name.

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