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Laila Ali inherits her father's profession There are numerous similarities between Muhammad Ali and his 23-year-old daughter Laila．She accepts them as her genetic legacy．She is the only one of his nine sons and daughters to embrace those genes that led to the ring． 拳王阿里女儿继承父业 穆罕默德·阿里和他23岁的女儿莱拉有许多相似之处。她把它们作为与生俱来的财富接受了下来。在阿里的９个子女中，只有莱拉从"遗传"中获得了拳击的基因。 Her father's legendary status actually had nothing to do with Laila's decision to pursue a boxing career．She knows that there are millions who know every single detail of every pro fight her father fought．She never immersed herself in that sort of trivia．She has always been proud of his achievements, but he was never a boxer or legend to her--just dad． What propelled her into the ring was thebizarre sight on the televison screen when she was about to watch a Mike Tyson fight five years ago．What she saw was two women in the ring before Tyson's main event began． 实际上，莱拉选择拳击生涯与父亲传奇般的地位毫无关系。她知道有数百万人对她父亲拳击生涯的每个细节都耳熟能详。她从来不沉湎于往日琐事。她一直为父亲的成就感到自豪，但对她来说，阿里并非拳击手或传奇人物，而只是自己的父亲。 ５年前电视上的奇异一幕，将她推向了拳击台。当时她正准备观看麦克·泰森的一场比赛。在泰森的比赛开始前，拳击台上有两名女子在搏击。 "I remember thinking, 'Oh, my God。Oh, my God。Women are about to fight,'" she recalls．"I had the popcorn and was getting ready to watch Mike Tyson．I was looking around like, 'What's going on？Women fighting？'I was so excited I couldn't wait to see it．I was like, 'I can do that．'" Laila was 18 and running a nail salon in her native Los Angeles, but the imagery of the gloves, sweat and punches was so firmly etched into her consciousness that she immediately spun180 degrees into another career direction. At that point, she says, the genes really kicked in. She had an indescribably magnetic attraction to her father's world. "Something in me has to do it. It's very natural." 她回忆道："我记得当时我在想：'天哪。天哪。女人要拳击了。'当时我正捧着爆米花，准备看泰森的比赛。我环顾四周，好像在说'怎么回事？女子拳击？'我激动得再也等不及了，自言自语道，'我能干这个。'" 莱拉当时18岁，在她的洛杉矶老家开了一家指甲美容店。但在那场比赛后，拳击手套、汗水和出拳的镜头深深地铭刻在她的脑海里，她立即来了个180度的大转弯，开始选择新的职业道路。她说，在那个时刻，基因确实起了作用。父亲的那个世界对她产生了一种难以名状的磁力。"我身上的某种东西在要我那么做，这很自然。" Laila's father, she quickly points out, would prefer that she not take on the dangerous and bruising world of boxing. Johnny McClain, her husband／manager（and former boxer himself）feels the same way. Mom Veronica Anderson was a bit more pragmatic and encouraged her to pursue whatever path gratified her most. Even though both the men in her life worry about her, they're 100 percent supportive. "They don't want me to get hurt, " she says. Long before entering the ring, Laila was a fighter. Being the offspring of a legend made her an easy target for high school kids to see just how tough she was. They, not she, failed the test. And she's passed every pugilistic test she's taken since. For the public, her biggest test took place last summer in upstate New Yorkwhen she took on Jacqui Frazier－Lyde, the daughter of Joe Frazier, her father's most celebrated opponent during the 1970s. 她马上指出，父亲倒希望她不要选择危险而会被打得鼻青脸肿的拳击职业。她的丈夫和经理人约翰尼·麦克雷恩（他本人以前也是拳击手）也这么认为。妈妈维罗尼卡·安德森则更现实一些，鼓励她去追求自己最喜爱的任何事业。她生活中的两位男士都为她担心，但又百分之百地支持她。"他们不想让我受伤"，莱拉说。 早在走进拳坛前，莱拉就是一名斗士。作为一名传奇人物的后人，她自然成了高中同学们的靶子，大家都想看看她到底有多厉害。结果，总是他们而不是她输掉了比赛。她也通过了此后的每一次拳击考验。对公众而言，莱拉最重大的一场比赛是去年夏天在纽约州北部迎战杰基·弗雷泽·雷德，她是阿里70年代最知名的对手乔·弗雷泽的女儿。 That fight provided the biggest shot in the arm that women's boxing has received to date. Media credentials were requested from outlets all over the world. Some billed it as"Ali／Frazier－－Genera tion Ⅱ". No match involving women had ever garnered so much attention. Laila squeaked out an eight－round majority decision in the middleweight contest. One of her biggest boxing－related peeves is constantly being called"champion" by journalists although she hasn't won a championship title--yet. "People are calling me champion even though I don't have a belt yet. I'm the best at the level where I am. I want to win a belt and defend it a few times. " 那场比赛是迄今为止，女性拳击比赛场上最激动人心的一幕。世界各地的媒体纷纷要求采访比赛。一些媒体打出的标题是"阿里---弗雷泽第二代大战"。从来还没有哪场女子竞赛像这样引人注目。莱拉在这场８个回合的中量级比赛中，侥幸以点数获胜。 莱拉常感到最大的烦恼是，尽管她还没有获得过一个冠军头衔，可记者们总称她为"冠军"。"人们叫我冠军，可我还没有得过一条腰带。我是我这个级别中最棒的，我想赢得一条腰带并能几度卫冕。" Like it or not, she accepts the fact that she is the face of female boxing. And she hopes that her name and notoriety will help get the public to take it more seriously. And she wants them to take her seriously.The name Ali has and always will bring her attention. But she is determined to make her own mark on opponents'faces as well as in boxing history books. "This is what I want to do. It's about me, " she says. "And I want women's boxing to get its due respect. " 不论她喜欢与否，她都不得不接受这个事实，即她是女子拳击运动的象征。她希望她的名字和名声会有助于公众更认真地对待这项运动。 她也希望大家认真看待她。阿里这个姓氏已经并且还会继续让人注意她，但她决心在对手的脸上还有拳击史上打上她自己的烙印。"这就是我想做的。主角是我，我要让女子拳击得到应有的尊重。" But even Laila Ali admits that she is a walking dichotomy. The powerful combination of gentility and brashness she acknowledges comes her way by genetics. "My mom is very classy, sweet, soft－spoken and spiritual. And I'm that way because when I start something, Ilike to finish. My father does what he wants to do, believes what he wants to believe and sticks with it. When he makes his mind up to do some thing, he does it and doesn't let anything get in his way. He was always determined and confident. I'm the same way." Laila is determined to embrace the spirituality of her mom and the strength of her dad while carrying out her own niche in the world. And she's committed to proving to the world that women can have enduring success in the ring. 但即使是莱拉·阿里也承认，自己的性格具有鲜明的两面性。她自认为她的温文尔雅与"粗鲁莽撞"的强力结合来自遗传。"我妈妈非常高雅、和蔼可亲，说话温柔，富有精神内涵。我也是这样，因为我一旦开始做某件事，我就想把它做完。我父亲则做他想做的，相信自己所认定的，并且孜孜以求。一旦他下定决心去做什么，他就去做，任何其他事情也休想阻拦他。他总是目标坚定，信心十足。我也是这样? 莱拉决心秉承母亲的精神和父亲的力量，并在拳击世界里树立自己的地位。她一心要向全世界证明，女性也能在拳坛上取得持久的成功。 |
