Written by Kirk Lang
Fighting in support to IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko’s title defense against then-unbeaten Calvin “The Boxing Banker” Brock – which Klitschko won by 7th-round TKO – Laila “She Bee Stingin’” made her Madison Square Garden debut on November 11, 2006, against Shelly Burton. A quarter century had passed from when her father fought Joe Frazier at the same venue in what was dubbed “The Fight of the Century, which pitted two unbeaten champions against one another. Ali had refused induction in the military some years earlier, and subsequently had his boxing license revoked. The first Ali-Frazier fight was only Ali’s third bout back after his nearly four year exile from the ring. He would lose a 15-round decision to Frazier, but showed tremendous heart in getting up from a final round knockdown that would have kept other men on the canvas. Ali and Frazier would fight two more times – including at MSG in 1974 – with Ali winning both bouts.
Shelly Burton wasn’t a feared rival to test Laila Ali like Frazier tested her father. However, she dared to get in there and try her best against a woman who was generally considered the best female boxer in the sport at the time. The following is a write-up from our writer Kirk Lang, who was ringside that night.
Historical facts: The main event was televised on HBO but the network only showed brief highlights of Ali’s bout, despite it being the co-feature and despite Ali’s standing in the sport of women’s boxing. Ali himself was ringside for his daughter’s victory, and sat adjacent to two-time Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman. He left the arena in a Chevy Suburban that would transport him down to ground level via the Garden’s freight elevator. That was the first time this reporter had ever seen a celebrity depart from the fifth floor in a vehicle. But then again, this wasn’t any ol’ celebrity. This was the bigger than boxing, bigger than life icon known as Muhammad Ali.
In the night’s co-feature, Laila Ali, daughter of Muhammad, defended her WIBA and WBC super-middleweight titles with a fourth-round stoppage of Shelly Burton, who was 8-2 (2) going into the fight. The official time was 1:58.
Fighting where her father had fought Joe Frazier in the “Fight of the Century” 25 years earlier, Laila Ali had a competitive opponent in Burton, of Las Vegas, NV. Burton, clearly not in awe of Ali’s reputation as the best pound-for-pound female boxer, took the fight to her taller opponent. Over the first two rounds, Ali jabbed and moved as Burton marched forward, stayed busy with her hands and kept applying pressure. In both frames, Ali didn’t really explode with shots until the final 15 seconds or so. In the third round however, she got her power punches going earlier. Halfway through the stanza, she nailed Burton with a succession of big right hands. In the latter part of the round, Ali willingly fought off the ropes near her corner and got the better of Burton. When Burton stepped away from Ali, Laila waved her in, as if to say, “Don’t move away, I’m right here.”
Ali also did some fighting off the ropes in the fourth round and just like when her father got off the ropes to knock out heavyweight king George Foreman in Zaire, Africa in 1974, Laila Ali’s opponent would see the fight get stopped when “She Bee Stingin’ ” got off the ropes and launched a quick -fisted assault. Ali landed three or four right hands that had Burton trying to move away from the leather coming at her. However, her attempt to evade Ali’s attack proved futile. A flurry of right hands and left hooks, with Burton not returning fire, forced Arthur Mercante, Jr. to wave the fight off. Mercante’s father – Arthur Mercante, Sr – refereed Ali-Frazier I, which took place in the same arena.
Laila Ali, who improved to 23-0 (20), said of Burton’s performance, “Up until that moment (the knockout), I thought that she did a good job.”
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