Ramla Ali won her first world title in professional boxing after defeating American boxer Mikaela Mayer by split decision in Arlington, Texas. The 36-year-old British boxer of Somali origin won the junior featherweight bout, which lasted 10 rounds.
Ali received two of the judges’ scorecards – 97:92 and 96:93. The third judge gave Mayer a decisive advantage, scoring the bout 98:91. According to the official statistics, the American landed 115 punches to Ali’s 78 and held a significant advantage in power punches.
Ali managed to knock Mayer down in the third round, but the American led in total punches landed until the end of the fight. The decision drew criticism as soon as it was announced. Experienced promoter Lou DiBella wrote that Mayer had won the bout and that the margin had been wide.
The two boxers are former sparring partners, and they showed mutual respect after the fight. “Mikaela, I want to share this victory with you because you put me to the test for 10 rounds,” Ali said after her opponent also acknowledged her respect for Ali.
“I kept saying that I was very tired because your pace was incredible. I don’t know how I managed to endure it, so thank you for being such a good boxer,” Ali added.
Ali and her family settled in London in 1992 after leaving Somalia because of the civil war. She began training in boxing as a teenager in East London and later became the first Somali boxer to compete at the Olympic Games. Ali represented Somalia at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and became the first Muslim woman to win an English amateur boxing title.
Ali’s story is at the heart of the film “In the Shadows”, starring Jasmine Jobson, known for the series “Top Boy”. In addition to being a boxer, she is a UNICEF ambassador.
Ali also dedicated the emotional victory to her father, who died in May. She said that before the fight she had stayed awake all night thinking about how much she would have wanted him to see her in the ring.
“I cannot put into words what this means to me and to all of Somalia. I hope I have inspired many young girls and boys to dream boldly,” Ramla Ali said.