JAKARTA - Somali boxer, Ramla Ali, made history. He became the first Muslim boxer to appear in Saudi Arabia.
He made the record against Crystal Garcia Nova in Jeddah, Saturday, August 20, local time. He played in the additional game of Oleksandr Usyk versus Anthony Joshua.
In that fight, Ramla Ali won by knockout (KO) over Crystal Garcia Nova with a cross in the first round.
After the match, Ramla Ali sometimes feels like he is dreaming when he remembers his life journey. Starting as a Somali refugee, now he has become a history maker.
Victory over Crystal Garcia adds the next chapter to the fairy tale of the 32-year-old Mogadishu-born woman.
Ali, who leads boxing classes for Saudi women and girls, said he enjoyed "making history" in the conservative kingdom.
"No country is perfect," he said, when asked about criticism of Saudi Arabia's human rights record. "All a country can do is try to be better."
"And it proved tonight that they are trying to have equality for women by entering women's fights for the first time and I support all of that."
"I support a country that is trying to make itself better," he continued.
Although accolades are now piling up for Ali, he says it took years of hard work and rejection before he found success.
"It's real. A lot of people will think it's like an overnight success, but it's the result of years of hard work, years of hard work," he said.
"Years of putting myself out there, years of rejection, years of 'no'. But yes, everything that happened has led me to where I am today, so I have no regrets," concluded Ramla Ali. .
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