RAMLA ALI Boxer
“When I was younger, I was always concerned by how people perceived me.
It’s the reason I walked into a boxing gym in the first place,” says Ramla Ali, the
most decorated female Muslim boxer in history. That gym was in her adoptive
home of Bethnal Green, east London, where Ali moved with her family as a
toddler to escape the ravages of the Somali Civil War in the early 1990s, after her
elder brother was killed by a mortar shell while playing in the street. Like many
refugees, she is unsure of her exact age or birthday, and for many years had to
hide her boxing career from her parents for fear of it bringing shame on the
family. Instead, she has brought inspiration to a generation of girls. “Boxing has
always been perceived as a male-dominated sport,” says the featherweight, who
won her first UK national title in 2016, and now boxes for Somalia. “All the
senior heads of federations are men. I’d love to see more female heads. That is
how there will be more positive changes for women.” Giles Hattersley
Cashmere cardigan, from £315, Extreme Cashmere. Fashion editor: Edward
Enninful. Hair: Serge Normant. Make-up: Val Garland. Nails: Lorraine Griffin09-19-WELL-ForcesForChange.indd 245 09/07/2019 12:18