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Why Meghan Markle is a fan of Ramla Ali, the Somali refugee who became the first Muslim woman to win a British boxing title

STORYNagmani
Somali boxer Ramla Ali is the first Muslim woman to win a championship title in the UK. Photo: @ramlaali

For both African and Muslim women around the world, the news of Somalia-born, London-based Ramla Ali winning a British boxing title – and becoming the first Muslim woman to do so – was likely to be a source of deep pride and inspiration. And that was just the beginning.

 

Here is what you need to know about Ramla Ali, the former refugee who became a star sportsperson and fashion model alike.

She was educated in the UK

 

Her family fled the bloody war in Somalia in the 1990s and came to the UK as refugees where they were granted asylum. She was a child at the time, and doesn’t know her exact age to this day. Once they settled in their new environment, Ali started going to an all-girls school to pursue her education. But unfortunately she was made fun of by other girls because she looked obese. Yet, she never gave up and finished her schooling thanks to her mother, who emerged as a pillar of strength, encouraging her to visit a gym to lower her weight. Along the way, she also went on to study law but wasn’t interested in pursuing a legal career at all.

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How her boxing career took off

 

The moment Ali joined a boxing gym, she felt very much at home. She immediately realised boxing was going to be her ultimate career, and has gone on to win many prestigious titles. In 2016, she won the England Boxing Elite National Championships and The Great British Championship, and represented Britain at the European Women’s Boxing Championships the same year. In 2018, she competed at the Women's World Boxing Championships held in New Delhi – the first Somali woman to do so.

 

She has competed in different countries such as the US, Ethiopia, Netherlands, Denmark, Thailand, Serbia, Botswana, Bulgaria, Morocco and Portugal. At present, she is the African Zone Featherweight Champion. She also became the first male or female boxer in history to win an international gold medal while representing Somalia, her birth country. Ali’s husband and coach, Richard Moore, has been the most influential person who helped his wife in becoming a boxer.

 

She is on track to represent Somalia at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 (which is now expected to take place in summer 2021) since the country today has its own boxing federation, set up by Ali and Moore themselves in 2018 – and she has set eyes on winning gold.

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A famous brand ambassador

 

Looking at her achievements, Nike chose her Ali a global ambassador in 2018.

 

The following year in 2019, Ali’s name was picked as the new face of famous haircare brand Pantene. She has also been featured in Time magazine, and another big moment for her came when British Vogue magazine put her on the cover of its September issue last year, as part of its campaign to recognise women as forces for change – one of 15 women hand-picked by guest editor Meghan Markle.

In the same year she travelled to a refugee camp as a supporter of Unicef.

 

She is also a renowned model

 

Ali is a professional model represented by IMG Models in London. She has already modelled for the American and British luxury brands Coach and Amanda Wakeley.

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She admires Serena Williams

 

While growing up in London, Ali always saw Serena Williams as her inspiration. In an interview with London’s Evening Standard, she said, “I’ve always revered Williams as someone who fights for what she believes in if that’s absolutely right. She is just amazing. I simply wanted to be like her.”

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Britain

Picked by Meghan Markle to star on the cover of British Vogue, the former refugee who fled war-torn Somalia as a child has gone on to find success in the boxing ring and in front of the camera