While Laila has undoubtedly been the major draw in women’s boxing for years, she recently took on a new challenge, strutting her stuff in front of nearly 40 million people every week on ABC’s hit show, Dancing With The Stars. A glamorous and elegant Laila surprised everyone and charged into the finals. Not only did her grace and tremendous athletic ability translate well to the dance floor, but it gave the public a wonderful opportunity to view a side of Laila to which they had never been exposed. Beyond just showing Laila dancing, each week the show prepared a behind-the-scenes feature, allowing the public to get a taste of Laila the individual, her sense of humor, her feminism, and her genuineness. Additionally, the public received a glimpse of Laila’s beauty, seeing her dressed in ballroom dance gowns, with the glamour of make-up, numerous hairstyles and costumes. Laila got dressed up one more time this summer, as she married former NFL star, Curtis Conway, on July 22nd.

Laila loves to cook, and has appeared on both Emeril and Rachael Ray in cooking segments. Her recipes are geared towards a healthy, active lifestyle, and she cooks most of her own meals so she can control the ingredients.

Fitness is another important component of Laila’s life. She recently completed a cardio workout DVD with boxing legend, Sugar Ray Leonard (available at WalMart, Kmart/Sears, Best Buy, etc.), and you can regularly find her in the gym performing Pilates. Her attention to an overall healthy lifestyle has rendered her an expert on the subject, and her imprint on this initiative was reinforced with the recent announcement that she will join CBS’s The Early Show, cast as their beauty, health, fitness and wellness expert. Laila has appeared in numerous magazines, including TV Guide, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, People, Ebony, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Essence, JET, ESPN the Magazine, and Time.

Laila also authored a motivational book titled Reach! She wrote the book in an effort to help young women who may need to be inspired in life. Laila uses her own experiences and challenges as an example for her readers.

Laila, a multi-talented entrepreneur, owned and operated a nail salon in California before entering the boxing profession. Boxing was a major departure for Laila, who was on her way to the University of Southern California Business School. She had earned her degree in Business Management at Santa Monica College, but after watching women’s boxing on television for the first time, she instantly wanted to step in the ring. About a year later, she sold her business and started training to become a professional boxer.

Laila made her professional boxing debut on October 8, 1999, and in a sign of things to come, she knocked out her opponent, April Fowler, 31 seconds into the 1st round. Laila is the current undefeated Super Middleweight Boxing Champion of the world with a 24-0 record, with 21 knock-outs. In her last fight, on February 3rd, 2007, Laila knocked out her opponent, Gwendolyn O’Neal, in just 56 seconds. The bout, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, was attended by Nelson Mandela, a long time family friend.