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This is an archive article published on November 12, 1999

Laila lunges longer for victory in second fight

CHESTER, USA, NOV 11: Laila Ali's second fight was much longer than her first. The result was the same. The 21-year-old daughter of Muham...

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CHESTER, USA, NOV 11: Laila Ali’s second fight was much longer than her first. The result was the same. The 21-year-old daughter of Muhammad Ali stopped Shadina Pennybaker of Pittsburgh with three seconds left in their four-round bout last night before about 2,000 fans at the Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort.

Ali said in the days leading up to the fight that she would knock out Pennybaker, a 28-year-old accounting student from Pittsburgh who was making her pro debut. Yet she was unable to land any solid blows early and sheappeared to plan out every move.

Early in the fourth round, Ali bloodied her opponent’s lip and forced a standing-eight count with a series of blows to Pennybaker’s head.

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Ali finished with a flurry of left-right combinations that sent pennybaker reeling into the corner and forced the referee to stop the fight.

Pennybaker’s corner was upset over the stoppage.

The bout lasted much longer than Ali’s debut, when she knocked out April Fowler in 31 seconds on October 8 in Verona, New York.

Ali’s father, who watched her first fight from ringside, didn’t attend yesterday’s bout. Veronica Anderson, Laila’s mother who was Ali’s third wife.

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