Ramla Ali’s extraordinary story has already been made into a film, but she has the chance to become a two-belt world champion in Texas, while Skye Nicolson eyes a fight with the winner of her bout; Ramla Ali and Skye Nicolson could meet in a unification contest early next year if they both win their title fights, live on Sky Sports in the early hours of Monday morning. At College Park Center in Arlington, Ali takes on Mikiah Kreps for the IBF and WBO super-bantamweight titles, while Nicolson, the WBC champion at super-bantam, boxes Miyo Yoshida on the same bill. Ali is looking for another fairytale moment in her journey through boxing. A refugee from Somalia, she moved to London when she was a child.
She took up boxing, initially in secret, and eventually became the first woman to box for Somalia at an Olympic Games. A model who’s appeared on the cover of fashion magazines, a new film about her life has just been released. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player “I just have to embrace and enjoy it,” Ali said of the extraordinary run-up to this championship fight. “I’m hoping that this film creates a positive narrative,” she told Sky Sports.
“Migrants we don’t just leave everything that we know. “You do it because you’re fearful for your life, you do it because you’re wanting to create a safe environment for you kids, you do it because you want to see your kids thrive.” The sport has changed her life. “Boxing provides hope to so many people. It’s such a beautiful sport,” she said.
“It provides a safe haven. It does for me. It’s a place where you can just leave all your troubles at the door and while you’re there training for that hour and a half, two hours, nothing matters but that training and there’s something quite beautiful about that. “If you watch boxing in its truest form, it’s like watching art.” Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Becoming a world champion would be the ultimate accolade.
“It would be something incredible to achieve alongside everything else,” Ali said. “Britain’s the only home I’ve ever known. But it would be an amazing thing to provide hope to thousands of people in Somalia, to show them that I came from where they came from. I can do it, they can do it too.
“This isn’t going to be the end but it would be an amazing icing on the cake with everything that’s going on.” She won’t look too far beyond this fight with Kreps though. “Just concentrate on the one in front of you, win it and then think about everything else after. Like I said this isn’t the end,” Ali said. “But all I have to think about now is winning this.” Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Nicolson however doesn’t hesitate to detail her plan.
If she gets through her fight, she wants the victor of Ali’s bout next for a three-belt unification. “I definitely do see an opportunity here to unify the division at 122lbs,” Nicolson told Sky Sports. “The winner of Ramla and Mikiah Kreps will definitely be where my main focus will be on after the Yoshida fight. I think the winner of that – it just makes sense.
“Within the next three fights I could be undisputed, which has been ever elusive, so close but just not quite happened yet. “I truly believe I can be undisputed before the middle of next year.” The MVPW-07 event, featuring Ali and Nicolson is headlined by Alycia Baumgardner vs Elif Nur Turhan.
