British-Somali Ramla Ali Wins First World Title

Ramla Ali has realised a long-held dream, winning her first world title and claiming two vacant junior featherweight belts in the United States.

The 36-year-old landed the biggest titles of her career by taking the IBO and WBF belts in a split-decision victory over American Mikiah Kreps in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday.

The nail-biting nature of the 10-round contest should not have come as too much of a surprise the two are former sparring partners and ended the night with an expression of mutual respect.

"Mikiah, I want to share this victory with you because you pushed me for 10 rounds," an emotional Ali said, addressing her opponent, whom she stopped from leaving the ring after the winner was announced. “I kept saying I'm so tired because your work rate was next level. I don't know how I kept up, so thank you for being such a great boxer.”

Kreps, a 30-year-old from Niagara Falls, reciprocated: "I respect you," she said as the two embraced.

Controversy over the decision

Ali had Kreps on the canvas in round three, but she trailed her younger opponent in the overall punch count. According to official statistics, Kreps outlanded Ali 115 to 78 and was also well ahead in the power-shot count. One judge scored the bout 98-91 for Kreps, but the other two saw it differently, giving Ali the win with scores of 97-92 and 96-93.

Veteran promoter Lou DiBella wrote on social media: “Mikiah Kreps won that fight and it wasn't even close. Stevie Wonder could see that.”

From Somalia's civil war to world champion

The external noise would have mattered little to Ali, who dropped to her knees when the scores were announced. She and her family settled in London in 1992 after fleeing Somalia's civil war. Years after taking up the sport as a teenager in East London, Ali became the first Somali boxer to compete at the Olympic Games, representing her birth country at Tokyo 2020. She later became the first Muslim woman to win an English amateur boxing title. Her journey inspired the film In the Shadows, starring Jasmine Jobson.

The fighter lost her father earlier this year and said she stayed up all night before the fight, wishing he could have seen her in the ring. "My father passed away in May, so I was really emotional," she said. “Every round, I kept going to my corner to tell my coach I couldn't do it any more because I was physically exhausted. I boxed through my skin and I'm glad I got the victory.”

"I can't put into words what this means to me and what this means to all of Somalia," she added, fighting back tears. “I've hopefully inspired so many young girls and boys out there to dream big and that's all I've ever wanted to do.”