Ramla Ali Wins IBF and WBO Titles to Become Somalia’s First Boxing World Champion

British-Somali boxer and fashion model Ramla Ali is officially a unified world champion! On 8 November 2026 at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, the 37-year-old athlete captured the vacant IBF and WBO super-bantamweight world titles after securing a split-decision victory over American contender Mikiah Kreps. During the ten-round bout, Ali dropped Kreps with a sharp right hand in the third round—the sole knockdown of the night—before two judges scored the contest 97–92 and 96–93 in her favour, against one scorecard of 98–91 for Kreps.

With this triumph, Ali became Somalia’s first-ever professional boxing world champion and a unified titleholder in one unforgettable night. Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, she fled the civil war as a child with her family and grew up in East London, initially taking up boxing in secret as a teenager before turning it into a life-changing calling.

Her remarkable journey from refugee to Olympic athlete and champion is also the subject of the biographical feature film In the Shadows. Directed by Anthony Wonke, the film premiered at the 70th BFI London Film Festival on 9 October 2026 before opening in UK and Irish cinemas on 30 October—just over a week before she lifted her world title belts in Texas. BAFTA-winning Top Boy actress Jasmine Jobson stars as Ali alongside Peaky Blinders actor Finn Cole as her husband and former coach, Richard Moore, with both Ali and Moore serving as executive producers on the project.

This championship milestone builds on a string of barrier-breaking firsts across sports, cinema, and fashion. Long before her title win in Arlington, Ali made history as the first Muslim woman to win an English amateur boxing title, the first boxer to win an international gold medal while representing Somalia, and the first boxer to represent Somalia on the Olympic stage when she competed in the women’s featherweight division at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

Away from the ring, she has carved out an equally notable space in global luxury fashion. Ali has graced the covers of British Vogue, Elle UK, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, and Grazia UK, served as a brand ambassador for Cartier and Dior, and made history as the first boxer to wear custom ring attire created by major fashion houses—including bespoke fight kits designed by Dior, Off-White, Versace, Alexander McQueen, and Burberry featuring the panther emblem from Somalia’s coat of arms.

Now holding both the IBF and WBO super-bantamweight belts with a professional record of 12 wins and 2 losses, Ramla Ali continues to bridge cinema, high fashion, and elite athletics while carrying the Somali flag to the very top of world boxing.

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