Smokin' Joe daughter wins pro debut

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) -- Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, Smokin' Joe Frazier's daughter, turned pro with a first-round victory Sunday, then threw down the gauntlet to Muhammad Ali's daughter, Laila. "Laila

Monday, February 7th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) -- Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, Smokin' Joe Frazier's daughter, turned pro with a first-round victory Sunday, then threw down the gauntlet to Muhammad Ali's daughter, Laila. "Laila Ali, you wanted to know if I was a professional fighter ,now you see," Frazier-Lyde said after stopping Teela Reese in the first round. "I'll kick your butt Laila Ali. I'm challenging you. Don't make me come and get you."

The 38-year-old Frazier-Lyde, a Philadelphia lawyer and mother of three children, didn't look nearly as impressive as the 21-year-old Ali did when she won her debut by knocking out April Fowler in 31 seconds Oct. 6. Ali has won two more fights since. Watching Frazier-Lyde's victory was Laila Ali's sister, Khalilah, who lives in Philadelphia and is a friend of Jacqui's "They take the history between their fathers serious, and they should," Kahlilah said.

Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali had three legendary fights, with Ali winning two of them. Frazier-Lyde is scheduled to fight March 19 at Mountaineer Race Track and Casino in Chester, W.Va. With her father, the former heavyweight champion, watching and her brother, Marvis, working her corner, Frazier-Lyde, billed as Sister Smoke, came out winging against the 19-year-old Reese.

There was a lot of wild punching and mauling in the first minute. Then Frazier-Lyde, 176 pounds, backed Reese, 187, up with a straight left. Frazier-Lyde pursued her to a corner, where she landed several slapping punches When Reese turned her back on Frazier-Lyde, referee Gary Rosatto stopped it at 1:23. "She really didn't know how to defend herself," Frazier-Lyde said of Reese, of Ashtabula, Ohio.

It was Reese's second first-round loss in two pro fights. "I wished it had been a longer fight," Frazier-Lyde said. "I twas over before I could get going. I hope my next boxing match I can show what I can do." "She did a good job, she got the victory," said Marvis Frazier, who failed in a bid to win the IBF heavyweight title when he was stopped in the first round by Larry Holmes in 1983. "I was as nervous as a kitten, but she got the job done."

Holmes was among a sellout crowd of 3,500 that sat through 10 fights and four hours of boxing at the Scranton Cultural Center before Frazier-Lyde made her cameo appearance. Before the bout started she leaped over the ropes and touched one of Holmes' hands with a gloved fist. She did the same thing to boxing writers after the fight, and she told them "I'd rather be sitting here (at ringside) with you all."

Almost as happy as Frazier-Lyde was Khalilah Ali. "I love Laila," Khalilah said. "We're related by blood, but we're separated by time and distance. "I love Laila, but I love Jacqui more like an every day sister." Also watching Frazier-Lyde's victory were her mother Florence, divorced from her father; her husband, and her children â€“ Peter Jr., who will turn 16 on Tuesday; Sable, 7; and John Joseph, 6.

In a scheduled 12-round light heavyweight bout, Robert Koon,175, of Wilmer, Ala., knocked down Chris Mills, 173, of Scranton, twice and stopped him at 2:53 of the fifth round. It was Mills' first loss after 18 wins.