Saudi Arabia will host a professional women’s boxing match for the first time when Ramla Ali fights Crystal Garcia Nova on 20 August.
The country has historically imposed numerous restrictions on women, but Ali and Nova will break new ground when they clash on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight title rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Ali (6-0, 1 knockout) is Somalia’s first professional women’s boxer as well as an Olympian, model, author and activist. Ahead of her fight with 22-year-old Nova (10-2, 10 KOs) in Jeddah, the 32-year-old told ESPN: “It’s such a monumental thing to happen in Saudi. Me and my opponent, we’re essentially making history together, so it’s not just me – it’s someone else as well. We’re both going to be the first females to be in Saudi [to do this].
“It’s just so monumental because it provides hope to so many women, number one. It provides hope to loads of little girls looking up to us, knowing that they could do, they can be and they can achieve anything that they want.
“To me, it’s about progression and it’s about moving in the right direction. To be the first women to compete in Saudi is moving in the right direction.
“I feel like you need to be brave. Be brave for what I mentioned earlier: for all the young girls looking up to you. You need to be a hero to them, and that’s what it means. It is yet again another first, and it’s very scary because no one else has done it before, but I need to be brave and I need to show that it’s okay to be a first – because others will follow behind you.”
