Ramla Ali, a refugee female Somali boxer, has signed her first professional deal in the United Kingdom without her family’s knowledge.
Ali, who became a British champion in 2016, signed a professional contract with Matchroom Boxing.
The 31-year old boxer said that she dreams of being the first Somali boxer to appear at the Olympics, which are scheduled to take place in Tokyo in 2021.
She is scheduled to make her professional debut in October 2020.
Ali said that she started boxing in her teens after traveling to London as a refugee. She fled Somalia together with her family during the civil war in the 1990s.
At the time, Ali was only a toddler. The family fled when Ali’s elder brother was killed by a mortar outside their family home when he was only 12 years old.
Ali said that she hopes the world would have a much better view of Somalia following her exploits in the boxing ring.