Ramla Ali (Ramla Cali)

Who is she?

Ramla Said Ahmed Ali is a Somali professional boxer, model, filmmaker and campaigner (Wikipedia, Ramla Ali). She was the first boxer to represent Somalia at the Olympic Games (same source). See sport in Somalia.

Early life

She was born on 16 September 1989 (Wikipedia). When she was a small child her 12-year-old brother was killed by a mortar while playing outside (same source). Her family then left Somalia and reached Britain through Kenya as refugees (same source). She started boxing as a teenager (same source). See Somalis in London.

Amateur boxing

She won the 2016 England Boxing Elite national title and the 2016 Great British championship (same source). In 2018 she switched from England to Somalia (same source). She became the first boxer to win an international gold medal for Somalia, and won the 2019 African Zone featherweight title (same source). She competed in the featherweight event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and lost her first bout (same source). She helped set up Somalia's boxing federation in Mogadishu (same source).

Professional boxing

She turned professional in 2020, the first Somali woman to do so (same source). On 20 August 2022 she won in Jeddah in what she called the first professional women's bout in Saudi Arabia (same source). In 2023 she won and lost an IBF Intercontinental title, then won the WBA International title in Monaco (same source). In June 2024 she lost a WBC world title fight to Yamileth Mercado (same source).

On 8 November 2026 she fought the unbeaten Mikiah Kreps in Arlington, Texas, for the vacant IBF and WBO titles (Dawan Africa, November 2026). She scored the only knockdown, in the third round (same source). Two judges scored for her, 97–92 and 96–93, and one for Kreps, 98–91 (Wikipedia). Some reports noted that Kreps landed more punches and that the decision drew criticism (Dawan Africa). She dedicated the win to her father, who died in May 2026 (same source).

Fashion, writing and film

She has worn ring kits designed by Dior, Off-White, Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Versace and Balenciaga, each with a panther from Somalia's coat of arms (Wikipedia). She appeared on the cover of British Vogue in 2019 (same source). Her book Not Without A Fight came out in 2021 (same source). With her husband, Richard Moore, she runs 786 Films (same source). A Film4 feature about her life, In the Shadows, is in production (same source). In 2018 she started The Sisters Club, which offers boxing to Muslim women and to survivors of violence (same source).

In short

A refugee child who became Somalia's first Olympic boxer and, in November 2026, a world champion, alongside work in fashion, writing and film.