SOWETO, South Africa - Laila Ali, the daughter of Muhammad Ali, met with Nelson Mandela's ex-wife less than two weeks before she becomes the first female boxer to headline a bout in South Africa.
She visited human-rights activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at the famous Johannesburg township on Wednesday and then spoke to students at a local school.
The 29-year-old Ali will defend her WBC and IBF super-middleweight titles against Guyanese fighter Gwendolyn O'Neil on Feb. 3 at Emperor's Palace casino in Johannesburg.
The fight was scheduled for last August, but Sta-Trade Promotions failed to pay the final US$325,000 installment on Ali's US$525,000 purse. Golden Gloves Promotions has since put up a US$350,000 purse, but there are reports Ali may have to repay her US$253,000 advance for the aborted bout.
Ali (22-0, 19 knockouts) beat the 36-year-old O'Neil with a third-round knockout to win the IBF light-heavyweight title in September 2004 at Atlanta, Georgia.
"I know Gwendolyn will be better prepared this time and a more formidable opponent, so I'm not taking anything for granted," Ali said.
Ali was also scheduled to visit Mandela's old house in Soweto and the Hector Pieterson Museum, which commemorates the June 16 uprising by Soweto students in 1976.
On Saturday, she is expected to sign autographs at a public training session.
SOWETO, South Africa - Laila Ali, the daughter of Muhammad Ali, met with Nelson Mandela's ex-wife less than two weeks before she becomes the first female boxer to headline a bout in South Africa.
She visited human-rights activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela at the famous Johannesburg township on Wednesday and then spoke to students at a local school.
The 29-year-old Ali will defend her WBC and IBF super-middleweight titles against Guyanese fighter Gwendolyn O'Neil on Feb. 3 at Emperor's Palace casino in Johannesburg.
The fight was scheduled for last August, but Sta-Trade Promotions failed to pay the final US$325,000 installment on Ali's US$525,000 purse. Golden Gloves Promotions has since put up a US$350,000 purse, but there are reports Ali may have to repay her US$253,000 advance for the aborted bout.
Ali (22-0, 19 knockouts) beat the 36-year-old O'Neil with a third-round knockout to win the IBF light-heavyweight title in September 2004 at Atlanta, Georgia.
"I know Gwendolyn will be better prepared this time and a more formidable opponent, so I'm not taking anything for granted," Ali said.
Ali was also scheduled to visit Mandela's old house in Soweto and the Hector Pieterson Museum, which commemorates the June 16 uprising by Soweto students in 1976.
On Saturday, she is expected to sign autographs at a public training session.
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