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Laila Ali takes 'comfort' that her father is 'not suffering anymore'

Laila Ali said Muhammad Ali was surrounded by all nine of his children when he died and that she has taken "comfort" knowing that her father "is not suffering anymore."

"All of us kids ... were all at the hospital and all had the opportunity to be with him when he passed away," she said during an interview with "Good Morning America" on Monday, three days after Ali died at the age of 74.

"We all were there, and that doesn't always happen -- when everybody has the opportunity to be there. So that was very nice."

Muhammad Ali had been hospitalized for respiratory issues in Scottsdale, Arizona, prior to his death. The three-time heavyweight boxing champion and sports icon had fought a decades-long battle with Parkinson's disease.

"I can say that I'm obviously really sad, but I've been sad for a long time just watching my father struggling with Parkinson's disease," Laila Ali said. "You know, you hold your head up and you say, 'Yeah, he's doing great.'

"But, you know, I felt like he was trapped inside of his body. So I have comfort in knowing that he's not suffering anymore. So that's what makes me feel better."

Laila Ali, who followed her father into professional boxing, remembered her dad as a "fighter inside and out of the ring" who spoke for people who "couldn't speak up for themselves."

"I just have so much respect for him because you just don't see that," she said. "You don't see that anymore, not only in just athletes, I mean there's just not that many men that you can compare to my father.

"When I think of my father, I think of people like Nelson Mandela and people like that."

ABC News contributed to this report.