LAILA ALI: In the Name of the Father

By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices

Laila Ali has successfully gone from a championship winning pugilist to TV star.

For her latest foray onto the small screen, the 'Dancing with the Stars' finalist will be the subject of a two-hour documentary for the TV One network.

For 'Daddy's Girl,' Muhammad Ali's 29-year-old daughter is showcased for making history in South Africa with the first professional female boxing match ever -- against Gwendolyn O'Neil -- last year in Johannesburg.

Not since her father brought boxing fans the infamous "Rumble in the Jungle" fight has there been such excitement and anticipation built around a fight in Africa.

Helmed by 'Biker Boyz' director Reggie Bythewood, alongside South African filmmaker Norman Maake, 'Daddy's Girl' also features never-before-seen footage of Muhammad Ali; and Laila's meetings in South Africa with Nelson Mandela and with Winnie Mandela.

"The most difficult thing about having iconic parents is that you are constantly compared, and obviously because of their greatness you might fall short," offered Zindzi Mandela, daughter of Nelson and Winnie Mandela, in the film. "So the important thing is to be able to self actualize quite strongly so people realize you're an individual in your own right, but you have learned, you have inherited some of their greatness."

laila ali The in-depth, hard-hitting special offers an amazing journey through Laila's life -- from a privileged, yet sometimes turbulent, childhood as the daughter of the "The Greatest" boxer and humanitarian leader, to her stay in a Juvenile Detention Center in California that changed Laila's life.

While she had no interest in professional boxing career as a youngster, when Laila decided to pursue a competitive boxing career in the late 1990s, she did so as vigorously and competitively as had her father. Leading into the February 2006 match in South Africa, her record included 22 straight wins and 19 knockouts.

"She's got more confidence than a man with a switchblade knife," cut doctor Cassius Green says. "[When] she gets into a dressing room before a fight, she's a whole together different person.. . .she's unreal."

'Daddy's Girl' premieres on TV One June 17 at 8 PM ET.