Already used to making history in a career that has taken her from becoming Somalia’s first boxer to compete at an Olympic Games, a British Vogue cover model and UNICEF Ambassador, Ramla Ali will mark another major first in Jeddah on Saturday
Ali will feature on the undercard of the Oleksandr Usyk versus Anthony Joshua fight in the first professional female bout to take place in Saudi Arabia.
She’ll face Crystal Garcia Nova of the Dominican Republic.
The event is not without controversy – critics of Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights record and the nation’s treatment of women in Saudi society have accused organisers of ‘sportswashing’.
Saudi Arabia has also launched a military operation in Yemen that has caused a humanitarian crisis, attracting further criticism.
However, Ali defended her decision to go ahead with the fight.
“It’s a huge honour,” she said. “We’ll be the first women to have competed here professionally in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
“I feel like the way the media portrays Saudi Arabia is not entirely accurate,” Ali continued. “They are pushing female sport and the fact that they’ve allowed two girls to compete here for the first time shows how progressive the country is becoming.”
Her opponent Nova is a tall, tough super bantamweight from the Dominican Republic with a knockout ratio of over 80 percent.
It will be Ali’s hardest fight yet, but she’s come to Saudi Arabia to win. Since January, she has been training in Los Angeles with coach and former professional boxer Manny Robles.
“California has without a doubt the most female world champions and the highest level of competition and so as my career progresses there is a greater need to up my training regime,” she said. “I am working with Argentinian strength and conditioning coach Mattias Erbin as well, who has been responsible for several world champions over the last 10 years.”
All the hard work, Ali hopes, will come to fruition at Rage on the Red Sea.
“I hope when people look back at me, they see a person who had everything against them in life, but through perseverance and a refusal to quit still managed to have nearly all the same opportunities in life, and achieved at the highest level,” Ali said.
“This fight will be without a doubt one of the high points in my boxing career. To have been part of helping shape the culture towards creating greater equality in the region is more important than my own personal successes or feelings.”
