Laila Ali’s son Curtis Muhammad Conway Jr. has the former athlete and her social media fans seeing visions of her late father, boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
On Thursday, March 17, the retired boxer took to her Instagram account, where she shared an adorable photo of herself and the 13-year-old boy with her 1.1 million followers. Curtis stole the spotlight after fans and his own mother pointed out the teen’s striking resemblance to the iconic heavyweight champion. “I’m still amazed at how my boy looks just like my Dad…with a sprinkle of my husband too,” the 44-year-old mother wrote in the caption.
Friends and online users flocked to the comments section, many of whom also called out Curtis’ closeness to his grandfather, including social media influencer Kita Williams, who wrote, “Wowowow it’s Uncanny how much your son carries your Father in his face … and I can see Curtis too… but definitely u gave birth to your Dads face.” She added, “ beautiful pic!”
Another person commented, “Amazingly looking just like his granddad.” “He sure does. He has your dad’s eyebrows, hairline & all,” remarked the third person. “That’s EXACTLY what I said before I even read your caption,” wrote a fourth person. “ No cap. ‘Looking just like his grandfather.’”
Much like her son, Ali also took something in common from the boxer. During a recent appearance on “Shop Today With Jill Martin,” Ali revealed how she convinced her father that women could fight. As impressive as Ali was in the ring, she picked up on the sport later in life.
“I actually did not even think about becoming not only an athlete but a boxer until I saw women’s boxing on television for the first time when I was about 19 years old,” she explained.
However, getting the People’s Champion onboard would not be easy. “My dad was not happy about it,” Laila recalled to host Martin. “He literally tried to talk me out of it. I had to prove him wrong. She recalled telling him, ‘Dad, I can understand why you feel that way, but just watch me.’ “
Following a successful career that ran from 1999 until her retirement in 2007, with a 24-0 undefeated record, the star said her father apologized, telling his daughter, “ ‘I was wrong. You were right. You can fight, and women can fight, and I’m proud of you.’ ” She added, “Of course, that warmed my heart.”
