The Jordan Harbinger Show - 309: Laila Ali | Finding Strength, Spirit, and Personal Power

Episode Date: February 6, 2020

What We Discuss with Laila Ali: What made Laila become the only boxer out of Muhammad Ali’s nine children? Why do fighters trash talk (and does Laila regret any trash talking she did during her fighting career)? How did Laila make the choice to pivot from an aspiring nail salon tycoon to a world-class boxer? What was it like growing up around fame, and how does Laila’s father’s legacy still affect her? How did Laila’s father react when she got serious about boxing? And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://jordanharbinger.com/309 Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to the show. I'm Jordan Harbinger. As always, I'm here with my producer, Jason DeFilippo. On the Jordan Harbinger show, we decode the stories, secrets, and skills of the world's most brilliant and interesting people and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you. We want to help you see the matrix when it comes to how these amazing people think and behave. We want you to become a better thinker. If you're new to the show, we've got episodes with spies and CEOs, athletes and authors, thinkers and performers, as well as toolbox. for skills like negotiation, public speaking, body language, persuasion, and more. So if you're smart and you like to learn and improve, then you'll be right at home here with us. Today we're talking with Layla Ali, world champion boxer, entrepreneur, and daughter of Muhammad Ali. This one's from the vault. It was recorded several years ago, and I thought it was good enough to bring back out for all of you.

It was a lot of good feedback last time we had this around. We'll discuss her journey from troubled childhood to entrepreneur to boxer and back again. growing up around fame, learning to fend for herself, and what getting in the ring can teach us about ourselves and how we interact with the world at large. I really enjoyed this chat, and I think you'll enjoy listening to it as well. If you're interested in how I develop a network that includes people, like today's guest, Leila Ali, well, I'm teaching you how to network

in a way that is highly effective, using systems, using tiny habits. Check out our six-minute networking course. It is obviously free, not enter your credit card free, but free-free. That's over at jordanharbinger.com slash course. And by the way, most of the guests on the show actually subscribe to the course and the newsletter. So come join us. You'll be in great company. By the way, before we start, a lot of you have asked me why I didn't make a bunch of posts

or repost my episode with Kobe Bryant that we did back in September. And, you know, I found a lot of influencers online and people who do things like podcasts or Instagram or YouTube channels. They were posting 40 Kobe picks and they were really pointing to themselves. and I found it really disgusting, actually. I saw a lot of people who had met Kobe for 20 minutes posting and pretending they were best friends and somehow making a really tragic death of a beloved athlete and his daughter in a tragic helicopter crash. They made it about them, and I just found it so distasteful that I decided to opt out completely.

So I'm not going to re-release the episode. It's still available for you online. I'm not going to make a big deal about it. I just wanted to address this because a lot of you have been asking on social and in my email inbox why or when I'm going to do this and I just I can't do it it feels icky you know look to each his own I'd like to say no judgment but I am judging those other people and I don't want to be judged the same way and it just felt gross and so I'm not going to do it but I am grateful that I got a chance to meet Kobe Bryant and do the show with him it is always available on the website but no I'm

not going to repost it I'm not going to put it on Instagram I'm not going to cut up little clips and put it all over social media it's available in the state that it was in before and I think that's the way that it should stay. With that out of the way, here we go with Leila Ali. I'm a little bit self-conscious about, oh, how did I just look in that? Right, right, right. And I can imagine also, as a female, it must be even worse because people are judgy with that. Worst case, someone says, oh, Jordan, you need to hit the gym. As a woman, like, if you just even make a funny face and they get the photo, you're like, oh, crap, now that's on the internet. Lucky for me, I'm used to fighting in a ring, and they have all kinds of crazy-looking photos, you know, and you're, like,

getting hit in the face. Yeah, you're like, have a glove up against your face. So I don't worry. I get in the ring with no makeup on. I used to. Good point. So obviously when you box, you don't have makeup on. You know, I used to wear mascara into the ring because that's one of the things I just don't leave the house without.

I just feel sleepy like your eyes just don't really pop. So I would wear waterproof mascara. Getting punch in the face doesn't keep you awake in the ring? Oh, I didn't get punched in the face that much. That's a good point. I'm doing. I'm just joking. You get punched every once in a while.

I did anyway. You're the eighth of nine children. That's a lot of kids. Yeah, that is a lot of kids. My father had two children with my mother, my sister and I, my sister Hannah and I. Your mom is really pretty. She is actually, thank you. She's beautiful.

She did some modeling. She wasn't a model. A lot of people thought that she was because she looked like she could be. But thank you. Yeah, the photo I saw of her was that Diana Ross hair era where it was like, it's big on one side. And it's a gray, it's a black and white photo that I saw. You probably know the one.

She wore hair to the side a lot. Yeah. And I just thought, wow, if my mom looked like that, I would be almost like self-conscious about it, I think. It's really next level. And your dad, of course, was well-known boxer. You became a boxer. But why did the other kids in your family not box? Well, you'd have to ask them that question. But from my perspective, I think that first of all, you have to have it in you to want to be a fighter. It's not something that you just go, I think I'll just try boxing, you know, because you're going to get your ass beat. If you're in there and you don't have it in you. Also, just the pressure of being a child of the greatest fighter of all time, right? But I think that I've always been a fighter outside of boxing. I've always been in one. Yeah. So it was no. surprised to anyone in my family that I became a professional boxer because I used to get in trouble and getting fights in school. So I've always been a fighter. I still am now, even though I'm not

fighting, but I just have it in me to just fight for what I want physically, verbally, you know, all of that. Nice. When you started to box, people went, okay, good, now it's legal or whatever, right? Now all this punching is okay? Well, I actually, when I saw women's boxing on television for the first time, that's when I wanted to do it myself. I didn't want to box professional. just because my dad was Muhammad Ali, I never even thought about it. I didn't know that it was available for me to do. I just thought, okay, that's dad. That's for him to do or men to do. When I saw women's boxing, I remember being amazed and surprised. Like, women fight? I didn't even know this. How did I not know this? Right. Christy Martin at the time was a biggest name

before I came into boxing and she was fighting on a Mike Tyson undercard. So a lot of people saw women's boxing for the first time because Don King was a promoter. He put her on. And that's it. When you get that opportunity, it was a brawl. I mean, it was bloody. It was like crazy. And I was like, I want to do that. Why, though? Like, you know, why? It's in my blood. You have to remember. That's for sure.

Because it is crazy. I mean, to say you want to fight for a living because people are like, why would you want to just get hit for a living? But there is a sweet science to it. But at that moment, it wasn't the sweet science I was attracted to. It was just the fact that I can fight and not getting trouble. Like that's just right up my alley because I felt like I would be good at it. And I could do it.

When I look at people getting punched by professional boxers especially, I think, dang, that's got to hurt. And I realize, and I've seen interviews with you and I saw a part of your documentary where you, I think flat out said, people who aren't fighters don't get it. Because to them, it looks like, oh, man, how, ow. And you're thinking, yeah, get in there, get them, or something like that. I don't know. There's a different level that you're thinking it.

Well, the thing is, is that you are, for one, you're not feeling the punches like you would imagine because your adrenaline's going. Oh, that's good. And it's kind of like tapping you, tap, tap, tap, tap. And then every once in a while that, bam, that hard way. Oh, okay, I felt that. You know, so it also depends on the fighter. You would think anyone punching you would hurt, right?

Yeah, sure. But as fighters, it's like, oh, that person can punch, that person can. can't. So even though they're hitting you, you don't feel it, it doesn't hurt. It's just kind of like someone tapping you on the shoulder. And then the punchers you feel, you might be able to feel those shots or just get hit with a good shot. So it's just like with football. I watch football. And I'm like, why are you guys jumping in the air landing on the ground on their shoulder? How are they not hurt? I don't understand. But as football players, they don't feel all of that. And of course, it is a wear and terror. There is a wear and tear on your body. They're getting shot up.

You know, they're getting all this done and to go out there and do it again. But in the moment, they're not feeling it because their adrenaline's going. Right. That's what your husband does, right? He's a football player. Yeah, retired football player. Does he still have a bunch of battle scars where you're like, it's raining today? My knees hurt me. Right. He actually came out really well.

He only had one major injury. He broke his collarbone, but he has bad shins. So sometimes, yeah, he'll have problems with his shins. But other than that, he didn't really get broke up. He was a wide receiver and he ran fast and well. Yeah, super fortunate. Yeah. He ran all the way to the end.

Nobody tackles you when you get there. Yeah. He played for 13 years, so he did really well. Most guy's career, I think the average is four years in the NFL. How long was your boxing career? About nine years. And I took a year off, but because I had shoulder surgery in the very beginning, which was devastating to me. In the beginning, they had to take a whole year off.

Because when I looked at it online, I thought, there's not that many fights individually in there. So I thought, is this two years, three years, ten years? You can't really tell. 24 fights. Yeah. No amateur career. You might look at somebody who fought the same amount of time. They might have less fights than that.

They might only have 16 fights. You know, and then you look at someone like Christy Martin who fought a lot longer than me. She had 50 fights. So it would just depend. For me, I would fight, especially in the beginning, maybe once or twice. a year. Is that normal? Because it just seems like that's a lot of training for one night. You better hope you're on that night. It is. For me in the beginning, I don't even remember my own record of when I fought. I'm bad with numbers. But for me, in the beginning, I fought a little bit more

often. But I was doing a lot of learning. I did a lot of my learning during my career just because I didn't have an amateur background. So we really took it slow in the beginning. And then with my weight class, being at 168, there just weren't that many girls. At that weight class, maybe I was at 140, 135, so many more options. At some point, you reach a level where, Yeah, maybe there's not that main. Who are you going to fight? Yeah, and then you look at their record and you think of the business side. You want someone who's going to give you a good fight. You want somebody who, I don't care if they have a good record. You know, I look at who they fought. I look at their size, their height. You look at all of that. You're just like, okay, that's the only thing you do.

Because a lot of these girls, you didn't really have video on or anything. I didn't know what I was going to get in there with. And then everybody would fight me harder than they fought the last person. So I I remember seeing tape on certain girls and then not expecting much and they get in there and they're from fire because they think this is their moment, you know, at their best. They got the best trainer, the best nutrition and they're like, this is my time to make it big. That's what they think. Or maybe I got to get one good punch in there before I get knocked out. A lot of people didn't give me my respect as a boxer because they would think, oh, she's just a pretty girl. She can't fight. There's a lot of hype. So that was always fun to see that first shot where they're like, oh,

you know, that's a surprise in the ring. Did they not watch the video at all? Well, you know, it's just like when your mind is telling you one thing, sometimes your eyes can be fooled. So I don't look like I'm punching that hard a lot of the times. You see someone go down, but then they think, oh, she just couldn't take a punch. People come up with all kinds of excuses for themselves. Yeah, I can imagine they're just saying, well, the only reason she even got to this far is because her dad called some people. Exactly. And he made some call. And so now he wants one daughter that boxes so that you're the one. And he didn't want me to box. And he had nothing to do with my boxing career. And you cannot become a world champion and have multiple titles without fighting other champions

to get them. So it would be different if I just had 24 and 0, 21 knockouts, no titles. Right, sure. But when you start getting the boxing, the WBC, which is the most respected boxing organization, I mean, my dad's a WBC champion, Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, all those people, Van der Holofield, Lennox Lewis, all the top fighters, they're not just going to give me a title. So I had to fight for that title, defend that title. Now, yes, I will say that in my weight class, there was a least amount of talent. So I would say people can say, oh, the girls that you fought weren't that much. And I'm like, you're right. There were a lot of them. There weren't that much. But that doesn't mean that I'm not a great fighter. I mean, I've sparred with world champion men. So I know what. I could do, but that was one of the reasons I retired. I got tired of being in these situations where I just didn't feel like, the only way I can describe it is a pro football team having to play a high school team. So even though you're going to beat them, you don't really feel that good about it anymore. Sure, right. So how much of that can I do? I'm going to keep training at an elite level, you know, so I can say, though, there were certain girls. And in the beginning, like, Dallery of my food, I remember one, Susie Taylor, they were champions. In the beginning, I was like, man, I want to fight those girls. But I have to wait until I have enough experience. And I finally got in there with them. It was easy. I took their titles. So at one time, they were the top echelon. They made it look like they weren't anything like that. You bumped them down an entire level. In looking at the highlight reels and things like that, it is a whole level that they maybe didn't think existed. It was like, these are the best female boxers.

And then you got in there. And it was like, oh, okay, well, we got to find somebody who can fight on her level. And one of the reasons you retired is because there wasn't anybody. In my way class. There's so much talent. And I never go around saying, I'm the best ever. I'm the best. I don't need to anyone to tell me I'm the best.

You leave that to the old man. Well, yeah, he was. And there's people who argue that. To me, it's never been about being the best ever. It's just about being the best that I could be, being the best in my weight class. But there are so many other talented fighters and other weight classes. Do I think I could beat them pound per pound? Yes. But at the same time, I have to put that out there because I never want to sit up and sound like I'm just saying I'm the best ever to walk this earth. And there was just no talent for me. But I'm a realistic person. There's certain fighters that would sit here right now and act like they were just that great and not mention the talent level. Being the perfectionist that I am. you know Floyd Mayweather is. Sure. I trained with Roger Mayweather who trained him. I train with Floyd Mayweather senior who trained him. I trained with Buddy McGirt who trained world champs. Those are my trainers. So it's not like I'm just out here just Muhammad Ali's daughter. I had the best trainers. I had the best nutrition. And I got the Ali blood in me. So anyone who would just think, oh, she's just a pretty face, they're not that smart of a person to think. This is Muhammad Ali's daughter. If I was a guy, they would take it a whole lot more serious. It's not a singing career where you can auto tune it. And it's like,

Oh, you know, she's Frank Sinatra's granddaughter. You're getting hit by other people. Yes. You can't fake that. No. There's no CG. Right. There's a million other things that I could do, hence what I'm doing now.

I didn't make a lot of money boxing. I didn't get a lot of exposure boxing. Yeah, that's true. I didn't. Undercard only for that stuff. No, I was the main event, but nobody was watching it on the level of like, you know, I fought Jackie Frazier, Joe Frazier's daughter. I don't remember how many views we got, but it wasn't like that big of a deal as it would have been if we said we were men. Right.

But the tension that would have been on it. And it wasn't like we're in a time where. you have the Rhonda Rousey now and you got the UFC behind her and they've pumped her up to a certain level. It wasn't going on back then. I mean, I was offered movies just like Ronda Rousey. I turned them down because I was like, no, I want to be a series. I want to be a fighter. I want to be taken serious. I would have known if I was older, smart, I would have taken some of those opportunities, possibly. But it was just something I love to do. And now I got it out of my system. I'm back on to my path like I was before I started boxing, a business. Ronda had some words before she had the recent few fights.

And I thought that was interesting because I thought, and maybe this is just my non-flying. mindset, but I feel like when you get to the top of the fighting game, shouldn't you be super respectful of everybody? Wouldn't that seem more powerful or not really? I just don't get that. It depends. I mean, because, I mean, when I was boxing, I used to say all kinds of stuff. I heard some of it. I got some of that here. Yeah, and I didn't have a problem with it. That's just who I was. I mean, what I did, I did for me. So it affected the way that I felt. I didn't really care what anyone had to say. And anything I said, I was being honest. Were there some things that I've said before that I could change? Yeah, I remember I went to China once. It was only my fourth

fight and I was younger then and I fighting this girl and I saw her and she was very overweight like what I would consider to be just fat or chubby and she was talking real hard and I was like, do you really think I would let a fat girl beat me? That's what I said to the public. But what I meant by that, I could have changed the wording, but what I meant by that is I take my sport so seriously. I put in the work that I need to take. I lost 30 pounds. You know what I mean? I trained to get here. You know, these muscles didn't just show up overnight. I'm weight training. I'm training. I'm putting work because to me, I look at you as an athlete. You're not even doing your job. Right.

Because you cannot be doing your job and looking like that. So for me, because it naturally would happen. You see what I'm saying? Sure. So I'm not going to take you seriously if you don't have your body in the top shape. I see what you're saying. But I didn't come out that way. But I was so young.

So at the time, you might say that to your friend. Sure. Let that fat chick be me because all that comes with that. So like I said, stuff like that, I would have changed. I don't know what you saw. But a lot of it, I would say now because this is who I am and all is fair and war. So no, to answer your question about Ronda Rousey, she is supposed to have thought that she could beat everybody. And like she said before, I think I could beat Boy, Mayweather, I think I could beat

Layla Ali. No, I would need some training, but I think I could beat them. And at the time, I was like, hmm, you know, I don't care how much training you did. But in her mind, but she was saying to herself about comments that I made, she was saying, well, she's supposed to feel that way. She was saying that about me. Because you are. You're supposed to feel like you're the best, but you also need to have, be realistic. And I would never say I could beat Floyd Mayweather. No matter how much training I had. He's a man. He's stronger. And he's on a whole different skill level. She needs to respect other people's sports is what you need to do, especially when you talk about people much bigger than you. Sure. Do you think that when you're talking about fighting in general, you have to have a mindset where you honestly believe

you can beat everybody in your path, otherwise you're at a disadvantage? Yeah, you do, but that's not going to work for everybody. So I think it has to be more than just that. But first of all, with anything you do, you have to believe, but you have to also take into consideration who you're facing. So if you and I are fighting one another and we're both champions, I mean, there's those fights where you got two fighters, Oscar de La Jolla and Shooka Shane Mosley, when they're They fought. They both were undefeated. They both knew each other. They fought in the amateurs. They didn't fight purposely for many years because they want to have that mega fight. That's the business side of it. You know what all of his strengths are. You know what yours are. But you really,

that's when it really comes down to strategy because you both really are really great fighters. It's just who's going to be the better fighter that night who's not going to make mistakes. So yeah, you got to go in there feeling like you can beat them. If Shane was like, oh, I don't know if I can really beat Oscar. You're not going to win. So that can make you lose a fight in itself, but it can't in itself help you win a fight. You understand? Yeah, I do. That actually makes a lot of sense. It won't substitute skill. It won't substitute training. It won't substitute nutrition and endurance. But if you don't have it, you can lose, period. You can have all those other things and still lose. Because the other guy could growl at you or the other gal could growl at

you and you can go, crap, I knew I was going to lose this fight. Weak minded. And then she's got that extra little bit of swag to go after it. And I believe in the power of thought and the energy that you put out there. So it's just like there's been a lot of fights where I could see in the moment when somebody lost is that's it because they've kind of yeah I could see when they're about to give up so I used to do this thing I used to call the beat down you know where it's like I'm not necessarily a lot of technical knockouts I can see you're tired so I'm going to throw like a gang of punches all at once and to the point where you're not going to be able to stop them and the rest's going to jump in but I can see in their eyes that moment so then when they feel that barrage just like they kind of

give this body language of I'm defeated and the rest will stop it so it's all kind of like little I understand that I think it makes perfect sense right you're sensing at the moment in the that they've made a decision in their mind that says, if she does that one more time, I'm giving up, that this is not going to work for me. Something like that. And you kind of see that and you go, ah, the beat down is coming and you're going to quit.

And you get that little extra burst of energy that might cost you if you just did that right up front. And then they're done. Yeah, something like that. Yeah, it's hard for me to articulate because I've never been in there. But I feel like I know what you're saying. Your nickname was She Be Stinging. Who gives those nicknames to people?

I wondered if you liked it or hated it. I hated. I had a cut man named Cassius, a real eccentric. but he used to just start saying, she'd be stinging. She'd be stinging. I'm like, no, I don't want a nickname. Because I'm from the very beginning. I was like, I don't want a nickname.

Because it's corny to me. They are corny. So, you know, my father being float like a butterfly, stinging like she as in a girl. Sure. And then B as in B, as in B, E. Sure. Or just she, B as in B, E, stinging. Like, bam, because I punch hard and I, it's sting.

So he just came up with that. People just kept on saying it just kind of stuck. I was like, oh. But yeah, no, I've never referred to myself in that way. Yeah, it seems like it could go either way. It is clever, but do you want that? I don't like it. But it's funny because that's the name of my corporation now.

She'd be stinging. Right. Because it just worked for that. Sure. But as far as my name, no, I didn't like that. You're listening to the Jordan Harbinger show with our guest, Layla Ali. We'll be right back. Thanks for listening and supporting the show.

And to learn more and get links to all the great discounts you just heard from our amazing sponsors, visit jordanharbinger.com slash deals. And don't forget, we have a worksheet for today's episode so you can make sure you solidify your understanding of the key takeaways from Layla Ali. That link is in the show notes at Jordanharbinger.com slash podcast. If you'd like some tips on how to subscribe to the show, just go to Jordan Harbinger. com slash subscribe. Subscribing to the show is absolutely free.

It just means that you get all of the latest episodes downloaded automatically to your podcast player so you don't miss a single thing. And now back to our show with Layla Ali. Why the late start with boxing? You owned a nail salon before you became a boxer. And I'm just imagining you sitting there like, hmm, I don't know. I want to do. I want to do something with my hands. Maybe I'll do nails. Nah, I'd rather punch people in the face. I know. People ask me that all the time. So the connection between the two is being in control.

Okay. So for me, I grew up and I said, I want to move out the house on I'm 18 and I want to be independent. I want to make my own money. I decided that as very early age. I didn't want to just be Muhammad Ali's daughter, have fake friends and, you know, have daddy taken care of me. So I started going to school to learn how to do nails because I strategize. I'm still that way now. I was like, what can I do? I can go to school. I wasn't going to go to SC. I was going to Santa Monica College because I didn't do good in high school and I had to go to City College first and I was going to transfer to SC. But I also want to live on

my own. It's a high order for myself here, which I didn't realize being so young. When I'm having this conversation with myself, I was like 14. 14 or 15. So I said, I don't want to do hair because that's so many hours or so many hairstyles out there. But there wasn't as many nails. A lot of Asian nail places. Yeah, Vietnamese. Yeah. So I was

like, okay, I'm going to start a beautiful business and it's going to be a pampering business and all that. I'm a charge. That's a amount of money. So I went to school, learn how to do nails, got my license. Then I started working in different nail salons, saving up money, getting experience, because you're not good when you first come out. Right. You mess up a lot of, you know, you're slow. You know, you got to figure out a lot. So once I got to a point where I started building a clientele and I remember what gave me my boost is there was a woman who worked near me and her name was Lydia. She lived very far, but she worked in Marina Del Rey and she had a

full clientele. She was having a baby. And she was like, Layla, can you take over my clientele for me? And I was like, sure, you know, because I didn't have that many clients at the time. And And I took over her clients. Then she came back. A lot of her clients wanted to stay with me, which I felt bad about. But I said, you got to talk to her about it. So I took some of her clients. But what her clientele did was she had her clients booked every hour, like back to back, back to back. So it made me have to get faster, you know, as far as experience. I got better. I had that pressure on me. And I did really well under pressure. And that's how it really gave my business a boost because I became better. So long story short, I ended up subleasing a salon from

a hairstylist where I had a whole separate entrance. It was called Layla's Nail Studio. I had a full clientele and I was going to school full time making my own money. Jeez. Exactly. So not managing my money well, but I was making my money well. I was like, can I pay my rent a week late? It was being in control of my own business and I loved doing nails. I mean, I used to pass out flyers and all that. None of my clients knew I was even Muhammad Ali's daughter. I'm not sure that's a selling point for a nail salon. No, it wasn't. But it was just like, what's the point? Because then it's like, it's a whole different conversation at that point. You're very close to your clients. You know all their business. They want to

talk to you. So being very young, you're learning a lot about people. at that time. So anyway, that's when I saw women's boxing on television for the first time. And I had this plan. I was going to transfer to SC. I was going to, you know, open nail salons all over the country. And I was like, wow, how am I going to tell my family? What are people going to think? I had all the fear and limitation and changing my career plans was just crazy. So the seed was planted, but it was in my heart to do. So finally, it was funny. I had a client who was like, well, I'm taking a boxing class downtown. And he's a great coach. And I was like, really? So I went down there. And of course, the guy is like this street guy. And he was like, yeah, I'll train you. I was saying,

that I just was doing it for fitness. It was a secret. I didn't want people to know I was actually thinking about becoming a professional boxer. So he started training me. I started going after school, after work every night, eight o'clock in night, lost 30 pounds. And I was like, I want to do this. And then it kind of started getting around. Met my ex-husband. He was a fighter, a world champion. And then he saw how serious I was. And he was like, you're with the wrong trainer. Like, first of all, if you're going to be serious about this, you've got to close your nail salon. And I was like, not the nails salon. Like, I can't do that. Not just. I mean, at that point, I had been in business for a couple years. I was also working out in Malibu.

Yeah, but you got over the hump of like starting a lot. I was my baby. So then I tried to have someone else take it over. That didn't work because they don't respect your business the same way. It starts going down. And I end up having to close the doors. So, you know, I was so serious about boxing. I said, fine, boxing full time it is. And that's when things got taken to another level. I got in a trainer, fought Jackie Frazier, beat her. Then I had to get shoulder surgery, took a year off, moved to Vegas, started training with Roger Mayweather. And that's when it really started to be full time boxing. Why not just ask your dad, hey, I'm thinking about becoming a boxer. Can you show me who to talk to? and how to start. Because he doesn't know. So he didn't know. For a minute, that's just not the way Layla does things. Okay. So Layla doesn't go say, show me this, show me that. So I know that you think, why don't you go to someone who knows more than you? But I know my father didn't know more than me because he's not involved in boxing. So just because you were a boxer, doesn't mean you know who the top trainers are. Oh, I didn't know that. No. No, no, no, he didn't. My dad was doing humanitarian work. Yeah. Yeah. By that point. Yeah. Not doing any boxing. So for me, it's something I had to figure out on my own. And again, remember, it was a secret. I didn't want to tell anybody that I was

thinking about boxing. So I just used to always doing things on my own. So that's just how it is. Gotcha. So super independent. I would imagine it's hard to be a world famous athlete and a celebrity and a parent at the same time. It's funny. I don't think of myself as a celebrity. And I always tell people there's a differentiation between celebrities and athletes, right? Just actor and a singer and a athlete. Sure. Because we're just real people, meaning all the time, we're not playing a character. even when you're a singer like Beyonce is a different Beyonce on stage and she is at home. I would hope so. Right.

So for me, I'm always the same anytime you see me. So it's just different to try to balance everything that I'm doing because being Muhammad Ali's daughter, especially now that my father's past, there's a little bit of a burden there. You know, like I get emails every week now just from kids doing reports on school. Can you go an report on your father? Can I interview you? Can I? And it's like, I can't do that.

I can't do 10 interviews a week with these kids. And plus, go online. You know? Yeah, go on YouTube. And then people are honoring my dad and giving awards. They want you to show up and you don't want to be mean and say, no, it's not that you don't care, but you can't be burdened with that now. Well, you got to live your own life too. Exactly. I appreciate it. They loved him when he was alive. They loved him when he passed. So, but you have to be careful about those situations. United Nations wants me to come for something. I can't just. I mean, whatever it is. You just have to figure that out. So there's that portion. And then there's just me and my life and my life. And then being a mom's two separate things and a wife. Because I was just talking to my friend about this today. People. ask me all the time, because if you were a woman doing an interview right now, you might be asked me, how do you balance it all? How do you figure it out? I have that in here. Oh, you do? Okay. Thanks for the segue. That's just because you know it's a good question. That's all. But they want to know like I can see in their eyes. They want to know for themselves.

Because there's nothing like a mom where you're like, okay, aside from being a dad, everyone knows women multitask and we try to do too much. And a lot of times we don't think about ourselves and take care of ourselves. They ask me that question. And I'm like, I don't want to sit here and act like I haven't figured out. Of course, there's things that I've figured out that work better, but you can't be, you know, balanced across all areas. Like, if everything is flowing for work with my kids, then my husband's like, well, babe, you know, what about us? We're just parents now. Like, we're going to hang out. We're going to have sex. It's like, I'm tired. God damn. I have my sister. I'm like, we got to calendar this. And it's like, well, I want to be

spontaneous. I'm like, you better take what you can get. Because I'm tired as hell, okay? So I'm sorry. I cannot be your superwoman. And then I get those moments. I'm just like, I'm not just a superwoman. You remember that song? Do you not a Superwoman song? No. Tina Turner. Karen White.

The answer is no. I know. I know you didn't know. But go look it up. Karen White, I'm not just superwoman. And all the women will be playing that. Trust me. So how do those same concerns affect your relationship with your dad?

I mean, it seems like he must have also been like going to do this, going to do that all the time. And nine kids, there's a lot of. And I'm the youngest. There's a lot of tension being shared around now. Yeah. Well, I would say that I grew up a certain way and that's just what it was. So my dad was not.

present a lot of the time. When we live with my dad before he got a divorce, there was always people around. Like I look now as a parent and go, God, like, that's crazy how I grew up. Like, because my kids, like your home is your private space, right? My house wasn't. It was like a public place. Like people stopping by all the time. Literally. You would think it was a business just coming through, coming in, coming out. And he loved it. I mean, he loved people. He loved entertaining. But as a child, I never felt like, oh, I'm home. First of all, we had a mansion. It was a 13,000 square foot house, three stories. You know, you got staff and things. And it's just like, you're just running around, but it wasn't like home. I don't have those feelings. I'm not complaining because there's

some kids that don't even have a roof over there here. So I definitely wouldn't complain about that, but that's just what it is. And then he wasn't around for the ups and the downs and the graduation. And it's like every time kind of talk, it was like an update kind of, oh, what's going on? But, you know, he has all these other kids. You cannot be fighting the world and be who he was to the world and be home for dinner and be there, you know, as a dad. So we did have to sacrifice. Now, do we have a relationship with him, yes, but it was the one that we knew. So he was always there. So if I needed to call him, if I need anything, he ended up moving out of town. Then I saw him even less. But I never felt like, oh my God, where's my dad? But I can definitely say through my hard times growing up, because I got

in trouble growing up. Yeah. And he wasn't there for that. And I didn't want to make him there for that. I always felt like I had a dysfunctional family growing up with my mother once my parents got divorced. So I took on this, I got to do it all for myself. Nobody's here for me. It's not like I tried to ask and he shut me out. He didn't even know a lot of things that were going on. he started getting Parkinson's and was always like, we don't want to make daddy worry. Sure. But at the same time, like I said, I'm not complaining, but that's my truth. That's my story.

Any house that big, even if there's 10 people in it or 11 or 12 or whatever people in it, it's not cozy, right? You got to have that cozy homesaf feeling. Exactly. I mean, I love that my kids have it. Me and my husband both say, God, wouldn't it be nice to grow up like this. Like, we come home. They know mom cooks dinner. We eat at 6.

Then we do homework at 7. Then it's bath time at 8 and it's go to bed. Like we have a super normal family. Yeah, we have. That is every sitcom family ever. That's what it is, though. It came from my husband because me and him have gone back and forth. He's like, you can't just let them.

I'm like, well, you need to bring in the structure because I didn't have structure. Right. So I'm going to be like, oh, it's 815. It's okay. You know, and he's like, no. Sure, you want to go run around with your friends? Yeah. Well, they're only five and eight.

They're not doing that yet. But you know what I mean? I'm just like, I'm not that on point, but my husband is because that's how he grew up. Sure. That's good, though. It's good that you have a partner who's going to go, wait, no, that's not normal. We're not doing what mommy said. That's weird.

That's weird. You're staying home. You're doing it this way. What was your father's reaction to you wanting to box? I mean, was he like, all right, finally one wants to box? Or was he like, here's the thing. He didn't like it. No?

No. I can imagine what his reaction was when I wasn't there and he heard, but they finally got around him, the Layla's decided to box. So when he came in town and we had a meeting at this hotel, which we do and he says, you know, I hear you're boxing. I'm like, yeah, I am. No, let me just back up. I've always been the hard rock.

You know, we've always bumped heads. My father and I. Oh, yeah. Like big time. And people assume I'm daddy's girl. Yeah, I kind of assume that too. No, no, no, not at all. Don't get me wrong.

I'm a daddy's girl. He loves me. I'm that one that's just like has given him the challenge because I'm just like him. Yeah. So like from a very young age, I'm like, Dad, I don't want to be Muslim. What? Everything he's been through. You know, after he did the whole highly visible.

All of that. We put his whole career on the line for his, and then your baby girl comes to you saying she doesn't want to be Muslim. And he's just like, first of all, how do you, you don't even not even old enough to know what you want. How old are you when you said that? Probably like seven. Oh, man. I thought you were going to say like, no, no, no, no, seven.

And I'm like, I know enough to know that I don't want to do it. I don't want it. Boom. Yeah. So most people don't, first of all, don't want to stand up to my father. Sure. But for me to say that to him in a young age and just like, no, this is what it is. And then just growing up, I was the one that was always very independent.

I moved out the house. I didn't mention to you. I moved in with a boyfriend. Oh, man. He must have been thrilled. Yeah, so he was just like, you know, you're living in a sin. I'm like, wait a minute, how many kids do you have? How many marriages do you have?

Wait, are you judging me? Like, we would have those comments. And then he'd be, you're right, you're right, you're right. I would always kind of break him down. So for me, he knew he wasn't going to be able to tell me don't box, but he did try to talk me out of it indirectly. And he said, you know, what are you going to do if you get knocked down? No, the whole world's going to be watching. I'm like, if I get knocked down, I'm going to get back up, just like you did.

Well, what if you get knocked out? I'm like, well, I don't think that's going to happen. but if it does, I'm going to ask for a rematch. So we went through all these scenarios and he never said, don't do it, but I knew he didn't want me to do it. You guys were sparring before you even put the gloves on. Oh, yeah. But I mean, I already knew. I mean, we've had a couple of these conversations over the years, like the living with the boyfriend conversation when he, that was an interesting one.

But I was honest with him, but this is what I'm doing and nothing you can do about it. He supported me, though. He came to a lot of my fights. He couldn't be at all of them, but he was more than half of them. And I could always see that glare in his eyes of him being proud. It was nice because I felt like sometimes I was. fighting for both of us. I felt like he was trapped in his body with Parkinson's and just to come into that arena and having everyone chanting, Ali, Ali, you just see him light up. And then again, when I

came into the ring and then just to see me in that ring and him just remembering himself, and even though I would never compare myself to my father on a skill level, but our boxing styles were similar, the way I'm shaped, my body shape, all of that is very similar to my dad's. So just seeing all of that had to be a super crazy experience for him. I would imagine. I assume you've seen this video where they put you're in the ring and they put him in the ring and you guys are sparring. I do this commercial. Oh, it's a commercial. Yeah.

Oh, I thought some clever YouTube. No, no, no, no. I thought like, wow. That was a whole campaign. Impossible is nothing. Yeah. Yeah, that was real cool because you do look very similar in those videos. He's dodging your punches with his hands down.

And I thought, man, that's brilliant. Yeah. What they did is they took, I forget who he was fighting, but I had to go and do exactly what the fighter he was in the ring with was doing. And they put it together that way. So it's so cool. That is cool. I thought they just found some video.

I don't know how any of that stuff works. There's a whole lot of working money winning that, man. Yeah, I bet. I bet. And you later fought the woman who inspired you to box, Christy Martin. How did that feel? It must have been kind of like, oh, cool, I'm going to fight Christy Martin. And also like, I better beat Christy Martin as well.

No, it was neither of those actually. No? No. No, that's funny. You're not a fighter. No, I'm just playing. Was it? I mean, that's not your first clue that I'm not a fight.

But that was a smart observation, but no, because you don't know how I think. So, first of all, Chrissy was a lot smaller than me. So physically, we didn't need to be in the ring together. Oh, really? I was not interested in fighting Christy. So she fought at like different weights throughout her career, but about 1,35, 140. I fought at 165 to 175. Oh, man.

So physically, I'm a lot bigger than her. Now, some people, people who don't know any better, just look at height. That's what I do. Yeah. I thought you were about the same height. She was tall. No, she's short. How tall are you?

She's probably about 5, 5. And I'm 511. You think like, okay, take Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather. Mike Tyson may be taller, but he's also heavier, bigger, stronger. So I think Christy also looked at me like I was just taller. She didn't realize how physical, I got big hands. I'm a big girl. A lot of reach.

Yeah. Strong. So I came down and wait. She came up and wait for a catch weight. But still, I was just too strong for her. I didn't want to fight her. She wanted to fight me. Then the public started saying, oh, they want to see the fight.

And as soon as I felt like somebody thought she could do something, that's what I'm going to show them. And then there was some money behind it. I was like, okay, this would be a good easy fight for me. So it was so funny with that fight. because these are the best known female fighters in the world. My outfit didn't come. It got stuck in a storm.

My ring outfit that I was going to wear. So I ended up having to wear some other fighter shorts, a cup, I mean, sweaty cup, everything. Oh. Yeah, it was kind of nasty. So when I got in, I didn't have a robe, anything. I had this sweater on if you see it that I took off. And I was just like, oh, my God, I want to get out. I was so mad.

I was like, I want to get out of this ring as quickly as I can because I really didn't think that the fight was going to last long. So I was like, I'm just going to try to get her out. It's the first round I was throwing everything. Now, I wasn't as strong as I normally would be because I lost like 10 pounds and I physically wasn't as strong. But I thought I could still just get her out of there. I didn't. First of all, when you're trying to get someone out of it, and I know this, trying to get someone out of there a lot of times it won't happen.

You got it just come. So that was the first thing. Then it took, I think I got her out there in the third or fourth round, but she was tough. Like she could take a punch. So she hit me, she hit me a couple times like dead on and she was heavy handed. And I said, wow, she can't because she's a puncher. She's a very strong puncher for her weight class. So I was able to feel her power and say, okay, that's why she's been so.

successful because she can't punch. It wasn't enough for me because I'm just bigger. Sure. She is. Just like I box guys and they're like, whoa, you can punch. But I'm not going to knock them out because they're a guy and they're used to take heavier shots. But I can't take what they can give. You see, that's the difference. So it was interesting. So no, I didn't want to fight her for one, but it made sense to fight her. And I never, for one thought that there's any chance of me losing that fight. So I wasn't like, I got, I better beat her. It's like, I'm going to beat her. You said you had to wear somebody else's sweaty cup. This might be a dumb question. Again, I'm not a fighter. Why are women wearing cups? I know why guys were cups. Yeah. So the cup, not. So the cup, not. So the cup, not. So the cup, not. So the cup, only protects private area for men. It also is for your rib cage and all of that. So yeah, you, yeah, we wear the cup, you know, because you can get your ribs broken. So it does protect you to a certain extent. And women wear them too now. In a lot of states, I don't know how it is now. It's optional. We don't have to wear them. And a lot of women don't because it just makes you look wider. And I remember that in the beginning. I was like, I don't want to wear that cup. It makes me look all wide and bulky. But then, you know, you get hit with a couple good body shots. You're like, okay, I think I'm going to put that thing. Yeah, I'm going to put that

Yeah, our cup is different. It doesn't have that cup down in the bottom area. It was flat at the bottom, but you still have that way. And then we have cups that we can wear on our chest, which is soft on the inside, just up against your breasts, but a shell on the outside. I was wondering, I know that that pressure on that would hurt. And if you're getting punched in the chest. And it's an unspoken rule for women not to punch each other in chest, but stuff happens all the time because that's a shot over the heart. Like, I'll aim to hit somebody over the heart. And sometimes if they move, you're going to get hit in the chest. Anytime I box the guys, because I only sparred with men. Like when I trained, I only box guys, they always used to hit me in the chest. They're not thinking about it.

And it's a shot to hit someone in the chest. So you can't say, stop it. Because it's like, what are you doing in here? You don't complain. You just be like, oh, you know, and then that might make them be like, oh, sorry. But then it happens again. So you have to wear your protection. You're listening to The Jordan Harbinger show with our guest, Leila Ali.

We'll be right back after this. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. Your support of our advertisers keeps us on the air. To learn more and get links to all the great discounts you just heard so you can check out those amazing sponsors, visit jordanharbinger.com slash deals. And don't forget that worksheet for today's episode. The link is in the show notes at jordanharbinger.com slash podcast. If you're listening to us in The Overcast Player, please click that little star next to the episode. We really appreciate it. And now for the conclusion of our episode with Layla Ali.

I tried to research this a lot more by looking for your biopic, which is called Daddy's Girl. Let's just say a lot of other Google search results were coming up for that phrase. Oh, God. That didn't work out for me. Did you find it? I didn't. Okay. I couldn't find it. Okay.

It was hard to find. Yeah, because I sent someone to go looking for it and they told me they couldn't find it. So I got to get a DVD. I find everything and I couldn't find it. Oh, okay. So it's not around. But she could have been, but she wasn't an athlete. She did ride horses, but not professionally.

Oh, okay. For some reason, I thought she was. Yes. She was really good. She could have, probably. Was there a lot of pressure in your house from your parents to be good at everything or to be good at anything at all in school? No.

I didn't really have a lot of direction for my parents growing up. Just from, like I mentioned. to you, both my parents were busy. We were safe. We had food on the table all the time. I was raised by a lot of nannies. Oh, okay. So no, I didn't feel any pressure. The pressure that I have, even now, I put on myself. So it's just kind of like I have high expectations of myself. I have high expectations of the people around me that work with me. So it's just like, I want to be successful and I understand. It takes hard work and dedication and all that goes into it. No one put that on me, though. Why do you think you put it on yourself? That I don't have the answer to,

But I think to me, it's just, from my point of view, it's just being smart. Like, if you want to be successful, you've got to do the hard work that it takes. I mean, a lot of people see people who have made it and they don't realize all the work that was done behind the scenes. For me, for example, it's just like, oh, you know, you just decided to become a boxer. They don't realize how hard I trained and even to learn how to run. They see me, I'm talking about now. Like, I'll help people with fitness and wellness, what I'm doing now. I'm like, oh, but you're an athlete.

I said, but I had to work hard to become an athlete. I had to make sacrifices. I had to learn. You know, you have to first decide that you want to do it in the first place. then you can make it happen. I had a whole different body type and lifestyle before I decided to go in a certain direction. What do I have to do to do to be the best at what I do? To become a real champion. And that's when you start hiring people and they teach you things like, well, you got to eat this way and you got to make sure you get rest and you got to not drink and you got to not drink and you got to not drink and you got to do those things. You know, so you just learn more and more as you go and you have to be willing. There's so many people that, even my husband that grew up in the hood. There were so many people that could have been great athletes, but they wanted to hang out and they wanted to drink and they want to smoke weed and they didn't make it. It takes more than just having talent and you have to be willing to. to work harder than everybody else. And for me, like I said, I got to a point where I was just like, wow, you know, I don't want to do this anymore because I'm not getting the fight that I want in the ring, you know, the challenge that I want. So now I'm doing it outside of the ring.

When you watch the highlight reels and things like that, it does kind of look like Michael Jordan dunking over the high school captain of the basketball team. Depending on which one you watch, especially because they're always going to use the best parts of the fight, you know. And then there's certain fights that I like a lot of the title fights and things like that with those girls. And it's funny if you watch those girls in other fights, they might look great. And part of it is the mental side of it. Like I said, if you come in there believing, because you're listening to your camp and you're listening to everyone, your yes man around you saying she's nothing and she this and she that. And then you have to get your ass in there and then you feel that punch like, no, she can punch. No, she's not

just a pretty face. You see me across that ring looking at you. Like, yeah, remember all that stuff you talk? Now it's about to happen. It's just me and you. Nobody else can get in there with you, you know? And it's like, I'm going to remind you of all the things you said because a lot of times they thought I was a celebrity to them. They were watching me. They don't realize I was watching them. I'm going on the blog. and reading what you're writing, because I got to find inspiration to get myself revved up. And that's what would get me going. You know, it's like, oh, you said that?

Okay, we're going to do this now. Damn, yeah. And I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. You don't understand. And I was kind of a bully, I will say.

I was kind of a bully when I was a boxer. But to me, it was all a part of the game. And I needed to have that edge because, like I said, people would just see a picture and think she's so pretty, but they didn't know that street side of me. And then they realized, not everyone has that. You don't have to. Sure. But I do.

So it's like, I'm going to. to kind of gangster you a little bit around the hotel. Like, yep, five hours to that ass whooping. Like, remember? So it was like, oh, you would see them in the hotel. Oh, yeah. Well, because we'd be in the same hotel at the week of the fight. You got to do weigh-ins and press conferences. That's when I'm really going to work on you. Because now you get to meet someone. You say how they walk. See how they hold this stuff. You see if there's any fear in their eyes. I would be just want someone to say something back to me

because that would just give me fired up. Oh, man. So you're like, you're down there. I know, listen's like, God, she's mean. But you have to remember what business I was in. Sure. Before this, you went to jail for a little bit. Not jail, juvenile hall. You make it sound so bad. It says jail on your website. You might want to look into that. It says jail on my website, Laylai.com. On one of the websites that wrote about you. Okay, okay. Yeah. You might want to look into it. Yeah. It is jail for kids. Yes, I did.

Well, the thing is that you can't talk about that without telling a little bit of the story. So I had mentioned already, told you I got in trouble growing up. Then I wrote a book about a reach, finding strength, spirit, and personal power. So I got in trouble because a lot of times people look at me and say, oh, you're Muhammad's daughter. You think you're all that. And they would start fights with you. I wouldn't back down, okay, because I told you, I'm a fighter. So I would get myself into trouble, get suspended, gotten kicked out of different schools, things like that. Grades weren't that great because of that, right?

And I also told you had a dysfunctional situation with my mother when she got remarried. She had an abusive husband. And I had anger. And I was taking it out in different ways, right? So for me, I was hanging out with the wrong crowd. And the first time I got in trouble, I was with three girls. No, it was three of us. I was one of the three.

And we went shopping and one of these girls shoplifting. And then I was like, oh, I'm going to shoplift too. I have money in my pocket. but just dumb, you know, and it's like, oh, and then of course we get caught, we get arrested, and I always had this little attitude about myself, and they're crying, like shaking in their boots. And I was like, what are you guys crying for? Like, we knew what we were doing, but they saw that as, oh, you're not even afraid. You're not even what. So the officer was like, oh, okay. So they end up processing me through the system, but they let them go. So I end up having to go to

to court because of the attitude. Oh, man. They didn't like my attitude. It looked like I had no remorse. I don't think that I didn't have remorse, but I wasn't scared. Sure. So I end up going to court. and once you're in the system, they're going to look at your grades. They're going to look at your family situation. And then I ended up in Juvenile Hall. So in Juvenile Hall, of course, you got all kinds of kids there. Kids that don't have a great family, don't have support, come from bad situations, and you have to deal with all that. So I watched the sparring match with you on YouTube, and the guy afterwards said, she's better than most South African guy. You know what I was in Africa, yeah.

Yeah. And my favorite part is this guy's backing up and you're going after him, you're going after him. You go, come on, sucker. I know. And I thought that. That was so funny. And my first thought not being a fighter was, it must have been hard for you to date when you were young. Because I feel like a lot of guys couldn't handle that. I remember that sparring session because I was fighting in South Africa and you need to spar. So you got this guy and you've got to pick the right guy because of man is always going to be stronger the woman. And I remember he hit me with some hard shots.

And I'm never going to say as a fighter, you have too much pride. I won't hit me that hard, but it's up to my corner to see that and say something to him. So at one point they did tell him, okay, you need to calm down. Don't hit her so hard. still hit hard, but not as hard as you can. But I'm cracking him, so he wants to get me back. He was inexperienced. So an inexperienced fighter is more dangerous than an experienced fighter. Because they can't control the pressure. They can't control it. Yeah. And it's like the ego comes in after I hit you upside your head. I'm going to get her back. It's just a natural reaction. I think that because he had

already hit me hard a couple times and sometimes I get into the moment and start talking shit to the guys and the girls. And that's just a part of sparring. Like he'd get worse than that. So that was nothing, but that always happens. Yeah. As far as dating is concerned, I'm a total different person than I am. outside of the ring. I'm not a fighter. Even with my husband, people say, what's it like when you guys get into it? Yeah, I would never try to fight my husband. I wouldn't even want a man, first of all, that I felt like I could beat up on. You always hear me say, no matter how bad ass I think I think I'm going to beat a man up. I never say I'm going to beat a man up. I never say act like I'm stronger than a man. Are there some men I can beat up, of course. But in general,

pound for pound, no. A man is always going to be stronger than women. Now, there are women who think they're so bad they can beat a man up. Hence, run around and others. But I'm not like that. So no, I still have a feminine side, definitely. But I need a strong man. I can't have a weak man because there are other sides of me that are strong also, just being confident. Sometimes my husband says, can you not talk to me like that? Because he'll say, why are you boking up on me? Because sometimes I do, and I do it to a lot of people. If I want to get my point across, my voice will change and I'll start enunciating. I'd be like, no, because like I said, what I need you to do is go to the store, get what I asked you to get me. You know what I mean? That's scary. So I'm saying, that would be scary. He's like, but he probably just

said something smart back to me. And then it's like, if you would just go get what I asked you to get, then we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. I started nunciating and looking as you dead and my upper lip gets kind of tight. So, yeah. And I'm like, sorry, babe. It's just like, hey, really focused. I apologize, though. Your son's out there and he's like, yeah, story of my life, man. My poor baby, he's so sweet. He's a highly sensitive child. And even with him, like, if I'm having a bad day, sometimes I'll give him this look. And he's like, okay, you know, and I see the fear in him and I feel bad. I'm like, I'm sorry, baby. You have the tough exterior and the nice inside. In fact, I read a story that you'd called Hulk Hogan one day to check on him. He seemed a little bit sad on American

Gladiators. He says that saved his life, actually. I know. And I was just surprised when he made that statement that I saved his life. He actually said he was getting ready to commit suicide. And I called and stopped it. You know, and that's what he meant by. And I was like, he didn't tell me that. And I didn't even really recall what call that was. And I'm like, wow, you think he called me before he went to the press that said that. Good timing on that one. You said you use anger to motivate yourself in the ring. Are you able to harness that motivational anger in business or in other areas of your life? Or is that just kind of boxing only? In general, you can. I can harness energy in general. But in boxing, you need it in that moment. And you need it to come through in a powerful way. So it's different,

like, because I'm actually physically able to transfer that into a punch. So that's totally different. I have a way of making the moment bigger than me. So for me, if I feel any, any butterflies, if I feel any nerves or anything, I'm able to say, you know what, F this. I'm about to go in here and do this for these kids in Africa. Then it's like, I have to be the savior. You know what I'm saying? So for me, it's going to be that moment where it's just like, you know, I didn't have to call on that a lot. But there was times when I'd be sick. I'd have 104 flu. Nobody knew it. But I was like, I can beat this girl as nothing. Then I'd be like going in there and then I'd have to lift myself up. And then I would have a lackluster performance, but I would still win. But people

but I didn't realize I have the flu. Like when I fought Jackie Frazier, my ex-husband was promoting the card, it was his event. I wasn't going to back out. But I was that confident where I felt like I can beat this girl. But then I got in there. And after the third round, I was tired. I was ready to go. I was able to slug it out.

You mentioned doing it for the kids in Africa. You've got a lot of charity work as well. American Dental Association creating oral health awareness. This struck me as funny because your career. Knocking people's teeth out. You're knocking people's teeth out. And now you've got a charity. Well, that's good.

I'm a knock your teeth out. but then I'm going to send you the dentist and get them fixed. No. And they'll be curly one. And get your nails done. That's right. Well, I love kids and I love anything that has to do with kids because they don't ask to be here. They're coming to this crazy world. So anything with health, fitness and wellness I get involved with. So I'm involved with feeding America. I've done some stuff with the American Heart Association, diabetes. Of course, my brand is just about lifestyle and wellness. So when those organizations reach out to me and I feel like it's a good fit, then it's very natural for me to get involved. So it's not something that I do all the time, but I have work with them in the past.

Do you have any thoughts on the way that black culture is represented in popular culture now and the way that some figures in black culture represent themselves? Of course. Definitely. I mean, it's such a long conversation to get into. Yeah, it is. But there's things that I see that I like and there's things that I see that I don't like. And there's things that I see that are part of the problem and things that I see that can help the problem. But there's no one answer for it. Taking our history into account, taking just sensationalizing certain things into account, just rolling it all into a ball. We've come a long way with. There's a whole lot more work to do. Yeah. How often do you hit a bag or like a parking enforcement guy just to see if you still got it? I'll hit a bag yesterday because I went to the boxing gym. And it's something.

So funny, I was training and I hadn't been in the gym probably in about five years. I went to the boxing gym with one of my trainers I had to train with here in L.A. I didn't mention to you earlier. I said, you know what? I put on some weight. I'm working on a cookbook. I gained about seven or eight pounds. I need to get it off.

So I was like, why not just come to the boxing gym? And I was like, man, four rounds in the ring and I was done. Normally I used to do like 10 back in the day. That's just in the on the mitts. I mean, I did the heavy bag. I did everything. But I'll be back there tomorrow. Going back.

So three days a week back boxing. Is that your favorite fitness? Your favorite workout? It's something that I know will shock my body because I haven't done it in a long time. So I love all forms of working out. But for me, boxing, I think I have that muscle memory. So it's a full body workout. So it's what I know.

When I'd say, okay, I need to get weight off, I'll either run because I know it's going to work or I'll box. I don't physically want to get in the ring and spar anybody, but everything else that you do at the gym I would do. Is there anything else that I haven't asked you that you want to make sure you communicate? Yes. So right now, obviously I'm not boxing anymore, but I have this passion for fitness, health, and wellness. And I said to myself, hmm, what am I going to do that I will be confident about love, have a passion for that I would do for free if I could. And it's really fitness, health and wellness. Because I learned so much through my boxing career and I want to help encourage others to be strong in every area of their life. And I feel a lot of that has to do with nutrition and wellness and eating properly, feeding yourself, feeding your heart, feeding your soul, spirituality, all of that. So that's why I've started this brand, Layla Ali Lifestyle lifestyle.com. I have my own podcast, Laylai Lifestyle. Podcast.

one. And if you go on my Facebook page or anything, that's what you'll see because that's what I'm about. I also love to cook. I've been cooking since I was very young, like nine years old. Oh, wow. Because I taught myself how to cook because my mom didn't cook. And I've competed on chopped one a couple times and the food network. So I said, you know what? A lot of people could ask me about my recipes whenever I post something. So I decided to come out with a cookbook, which will be out in January of 2018. And I'm really excited about that because like I said, this is something that I know I would do for free if I could. And it's great. Obviously, as a businesswoman, you want to be able to live a certain lifestyle and take care of your family, but do something that you love.

And it's so needed here in the United States and all over the world. We have this epidemic with people being obese, having diabetes, heart disease. And it's because of lifestyle choices. So I think that because I can relate to the average person, I'm not going to speak over their head. I can talk their language, especially African Americans where we are way behind everybody else when it comes to eating and lifestyle choices. I think that I can be the perfect person for that. So just keep watching and see what comes of it. Are you glad that you had a chance to get fired by Arnold instead of Trump? I would not have gotten fired by Trump because they asked me to do the show like four times when he was the host and I said no. And that was before everything that happened in this country. It's just I didn't think that that would be a good look for me

because I was like, me and Trump in the boardroom, it's not going to be good. They have the control over the editing. I didn't trust it. I felt more comfortable with Arnold. I was on his governor's counsel of physical fitness here in California. And, you know, they told me they were bringing it to LA and it was going to have a whole new face. So I did it. And I did really well. I made it to the semifinals. Unfortunately, with the election and everything that happened and we shot it back in February of 2016. Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Yeah. And then it aired and then a lot of people boycott in the show. And it's something that we didn't even think about because he wasn't even running yet. So, and then everyone's like, wow, this is, you know, you wish like we just put

it on hold and didn't do it at that time. So any association to him, a lot of people didn't want to watch it. So the show, I don't think did as well as it should have done. But as far as my performance, I'm happy with my performance. I brought a lot of awareness to the Women's Sports Foundation, which was my charity. I'm not the type of person that likes to have regrets.

It's like, for things that I can't control, I'm like, hey, whatever it was meant to be is what happens. Yeah, it's not worth it. It's not going to make a break me, put it like that. Layla, thank you so much. Thank you. Big thank you to Layla Ali.

Links to her stuff will be on the website in the show notes. Also in the show notes, there are worksheets for each episode so you can review what you learned here today from Layla Ali. We also now have transcripts for each episode and those can be found

in the show notes as well. I'm teaching you how to connect with great people and manage relationships using systems and using tiny habits over at our six-minute networking course, which is free over at Jordan Harbinger.com slash course. The problem with kicking the can down the road and trying to do it later, you can't make up for lost time when it comes to relationships and networking. The number one mistake I see people make is postponing this, not digging the well before they get thirsty. Once you need relationships, you're too late. These drills take just a few minutes per day, the name six minute networking people. Hello. I wish I knew this stuff 20 years ago. It has been crucial in my success. You can find it all for free at Jordan Harbinger.com

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