Britain’s Ramla Ali on Saturday said she sometimes felt she was dreaming after her journey from Somalian refugee to trailblazing women’s boxer took a big leap forward in Saudi Arabia.
Ali, fighting the first women’s professional bout in the kingdom, put on a show in Jeddah, knocking out Crystal Garcia Nova with a crunching cross in the first round.
The devastating right hand, which sent the Dominican’s mouthguard flying, added another chapter in the fairytale of Mogadishu-born Ali, 32, whose family fled war in Somalia when she was a toddler.
Photo: Reuters
Having taken up boxing after she was teased in school, Ali became the first Muslim woman to claim an English amateur title in 2016, and appeared on the front cover of British Vogue in 2019.
Now 7-0 in her professional career, with two knockouts, Ali is moving steadily toward a world title shot that is expected to come next year.
“Sometimes it’s like pinch-me moments,” she said. “But then sometimes you have to go back and think about who’s watching or who you’re inspiring.”
Photo: AFP
“For me, the ultimate aim is knowing that a little me is out there in the audience watching me, and will be inspired by me to do these big things as well,” she said.
Ali, who led a boxing class for Saudi Arabian women and girls in the buildup to the fight, said she was delighted to “make history” in the kingdom, where women’s sports have long been discouraged.
“No country is perfect,” she said, when asked about criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. “All a country can do is try to be better. And it’s evident tonight that they’re trying to have equality for women by putting on the first female fight and I’m all for that.”
Although the accolades are piling up for Ali, she said it took years of hard work and rejection before she found success.
“It’s surreal. A lot of people will think it’s like an overnight success, but it’s years and years of grafting, years of hard work,” she said. “Years of putting myself out there, years of rejection, years of ‘no’s. But yeah, everything that’s happened has brought me to where I am today, so I have no regrets.”
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