Somali-born, London-raised Forces for Change cover star somaliboxer has overcome incredible obstacles to become one of the most talented female boxers around. Here, she tells BritishVogue how one boxercise class transformed her life.
hen 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 12-year-old brother was killed by a mortar shell while playing in the street.
29 Jul 2019Teased for being overweight at school, Ali decided to get fit and fell in love with a boxercise class, sparking a talent and passion which, little did she know at the time, would turn into a ground-breaking career. But her route to success was not without its difficulties. For many years, Ali had to hide her boxing from her parents for fear of it bringing shame on the family.
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