Ramla Ali wins first world titles at 36 with highly controversial split decision

Ramla Ali became the WBO and IBF women’s junior featherweight champion at 36, winning a disputed split decision over Mikiah Kreps in Texas. The result marks the first world titles of the British-Somali boxer’s career, but the scoring has drawn strong criticism because Kreps appeared to control much of the bout.

Ali scored a knockdown in the third round, then Kreps increased her pressure and outlanded her 115 punches to 78, connecting with more punches in eight of the ten rounds. Two judges scored the fight for Ali, 97-92 and 96-93, while the third gave it to Kreps, 98-91; the Guardian’s own scorecard also favoured Kreps. Ali dedicated the victory to her late father and praised Kreps’s work rate.