Featherweight boxer Ramla Ali looks to break barriers in Saudi Arabia's first ever female fight

By Loureen Ayyoub for CNN

Updated 0102 GMT (0902 HKT) August 20, 2022

Ramla Ali wants to be a role model for the next generation of female boxers.

(CNN)After fleeing war in Somalia as a child, featherweight boxer Ramla Ali has had to fight for everything she has.

The 32-year-old is now about to write another chapter in her remarkable life as she prepares for her next bout against Crystal Garcia Nova of the Dominican Republic in the first ever female match to be hosted in Saudi Arabia. Taking place in Jeddah on Saturday, the fight features Ali on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk versus Anthony Joshua as the literal «fight» for women's rights has reached new heights in the kingdom. «I'm proud to give my community and my people hope and give African girls another reason to take up sport and strive for anything they want to,» Ali told CNN Sport. As a refugee, Ali is no stranger to breaking barriers. She fled war-torn Somalia with her family and settled in the United Kingdom, dealing with the tragic death of her brother. Read MoreShe told CNN in 2018, «The reason why we came here is because my eldest brother died in the war. He was struck by a grenade as he played outside the house. Obviously, from then, my mom didn't want that life for us.»Struggling to fit in at school, Ali was teased because of her size, but it was in her new home that she discovered the sport of boxing — initially as a casual, healthy hobby to lose weight. But her hobby soon bloomed into a passion. Ali became a successful amateur boxer, winning titles such as the 2016 Great British Championship. Speaking about the achievement, she told CNN in 2018: «I went in there a bit of a like an underdog… I was so scared when I saw the list [with the other fighters]