JAKARTA - Boxer from Somalia Ramla Ali will make history. She will be the first Muslim woman to enter the boxing ring in Saudi Arabia.
Ali appears in an additional match for the main fight of Anthony Joshua versus Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday, August 20, this weekend. He fought boxer from the Dominican Republic, Crystal Garcia Nova.
Ali is an Olympic athlete, model, activist, and writer. She is the first Somali boxer in history to compete in the Olympics and the first woman to become a professional boxer.
Ramla Ali's story begins after her family makes the bold decision to flee war-torn Somalia for England as a baby.
Ali's older brother was killed by a bomb during the civil war in the early 1990s at the age of 12. The incident forced the Ali family to leave the capital Mogadishu after a nine-day boat trip to Kenya.
Some of them died on the way of starvation. However, fortunately for Ali and his family who were able to arrive in London safely and received asylum from England.
Ali's teenage years while living in Whitechapel, East London, also had a dark time. He was often bullied for being overweight.
This unwanted treatment made him decide to join a boxing class at a local gym without the knowledge of his family. She was afraid that she would not get the blessing of participating in the sport as a Muslim girl.
Since then, Ali has continued to win both rookie and elite titles. This success made what he kept secret from his family slowly began to be revealed.
"I knew they would not agree with that. I told my little brother because he is one of the most admirable ones. I thought I needed an ally," Ali told Stylist 2020.
"The rest of the family found out when my older brother saw me fighting on television. It was quite annoying, because I specifically requested that the fight not be broadcast."
Ali initially boxed for England at international amateur level, but he later changed his mind representing Somalia. He turned professional in 2020 and represented Somalia at the Tokyo Olympics last year.
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