Ramla Ali claims first world title with split-decision win over Mikiah Kreps

Ali dropped to her knees when the scores were read out on Sunday night. Two judges gave her the fight 97-92 and 96-93, while the third saw it 98-91 for Kreps. The 36-year-old, who fled Somalia's civil war and settled in London in 1992, now holds two vacant junior featherweight belts.

The numbers make uncomfortable reading for the scorecards. Kreps outlanded Ali 115 punches to 78 according to official stats, and led the power-shot count too. Ali did put the 30-year-old from Niagara Falls on the canvas in round three. Promoter Lou Di Bella didn't hold back on social media, writing that Kreps won and it wasn't close.

The two are former sparring partners, and the friction didn't survive the final bell. Ali kept Kreps in the ring to pay tribute, thanking her for pushing her for 10 rounds and crediting her work rate. Kreps answered with a simple "I respect you" as the pair stood arm in arm.

Ali fought through grief as much as fatigue. Her father died in May, and she said she stayed up all night before the bout wishing he could have watched. She told All The Smoke Boxing she kept telling her corner she was physically exhausted, then added that she boxed through her skin.

The win caps a career that has run well beyond the ropes. Ali was the first Somali boxer at an Olympics, at Tokyo 2020, and the first Muslim woman to take an English amateur title. Her story inspired the film 'In the Shadows', with Jasmine Jobson playing her, and she works as a model and UNICEF ambassador. "I can't put into words what this means to me and what this means to all of Somalia," she said in the ring.