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Photo Credit: Tom Casino/Showtime
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Saturday night in Washington D.C., Laila Ali put her talents on display and a little bit more. The burning question has always been what would happen when Laila gets hit, when she finds someone willing to fight her back? That certainly was the case early on, Laila was tested by Erin Toughill. She was hit with a few good shots, took them all, and kept right on firing. Toughill came from a martial arts background, she is used to being kicked as well as being punched in the head, but she never faced Ali. Laila said that she would punish Toughill, and she did exactly as she said she would do. I was fortunate enough to watch Laila prepare for this fight. She looked lethargic when her camp first started but as it progressed and the fight grew closer all the T’s were crossed and all the I’s were dotted. She was as ready as I had seen her in some time. In one of the last sparring sessions I witnessed, her punches were coming off really crisp, her hand speed was intact and her volume of punches was extremely high. She was a fine tuned fighting machine ready for battle. I think Laila's biggest advantage going into a fight is that she throws beautiful combinations. She fights like a much smaller woman. Erin Toughill found out first hand all those things I witnessed during Laila's preparation for this fight. What happened in the ring on Saturday night holds true that what you do in the gym you will do on fight night. With her famous father in attendance, she put on a great display of power movement and hand speed that spelled defeat early on for Toughill. Round one: The fight was tit-for-tat, with Ali using a good jab from long range, Toughill would occasionally land a good body shot. Ali would end the round landing a telling combination. Round two: This would be a little different. Toughill appeared to be coming on as she landed some pretty good shots to the head and body; it even looked as though Laila was in for a very serious challenge. Once again, as the round ended, Ali once again finished strong, erasing the memory of the few food moments Toughill had earlier in the round. Round three: Toughill would have the toughness of being a martial artist put through an extreme test. It started out with Ali pressing the action, using the jab followed by blazing combinations. The tone was set, that if Toughill was as tough as she claimed to be, this would be her defining round. Unfortunately for her, once the assault began, it would not stop, unless the referee jumped in and saved her or Toughill herself called it a night. With countless punches raining off her head, she decided to do just that, she packed it in. Laila was just too much for her to handle. In the post fight interview, her famous father, Muhammad Ali, joined Laila. When asked what he thought of his daughter’s performance he proudly said, "it runs in the family," adding, "she's a bad woman." 6-11-2005
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