Ramla Ali beats Mikiah Kreps by split decision to win IBF and WBO super-bantamweight titles

Ramla Ali is a world champion at last. The 37-year-old Somali-British boxer beat previously unbeaten Mikiah Kreps by split decision on Sunday, 8 November 2026, at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, to win the vacant IBF and WBO women's super-bantamweight titles in the co-main event of Most Valuable Promotions' MVPW-07 card.

Ali, who was born in Mogadishu and grew up in London after her family fled Somalia's civil war, fell to her knees in tears when the result was announced. The victory came at her second attempt at a world title, two years after she lost a championship bout to Mexico's Yamileth Mercado in 2024, and it made her a two-belt champion on ESPN in the United States and Sky Sports in Britain.

The fight went the full 10 rounds at 122 pounds. Two judges scored it for Ali, Melva Santos by 97-92 and Lisa Giampa by 96-93, while the third judge, Nexis Novoa, scored it 98-91 for Kreps. Ali improved to 12 wins and 2 defeats, with 3 knockouts, while Kreps, 30, from Niagara Falls, New York, suffered her first professional defeat and fell to 11-1, also with 3 knockouts.

An early cut and a third-round knockdown

Ali started aggressively and took control of the early rounds. She opened a cut on Kreps in the second round, then scored the only knockdown of the fight in the third, when a punch sent Kreps's glove to the canvas. The knockdown gave Ali an early cushion on the scorecards and forced Kreps to chase the fight from that point onward.

The two women knew each other well, having previously worked together as sparring partners, and that familiarity showed in their willingness to exchange at close range. Ali used her jab and straight punches to keep Kreps at distance early, while Kreps looked to close the gap and work to the body. For Ali, the fast start mattered: it settled her into a championship fight billed as one of the closest on a card featuring four world title bouts.

Kreps fights back and takes the punch count

Kreps refused to let the early adversity decide the fight. She increased her pressure through the middle rounds, attacked Ali's body, and found success with combinations as the bout became a physical, closely contested encounter. By the second half, she was the busier fighter, pressing forward and landing the cleaner work in several rounds.

The official punch statistics underlined how competitive the fight had become. According to CompuBox figures reported by The Ring, Kreps outlanded Ali by 115 punches to 78 overall, and by 91 to 70 in power punches. Those numbers help explain why the decision provoked such a strong reaction after the final bell, with many observers arguing that Kreps had done enough to win despite the knockdown against her.

Kreps, a bronze medallist in the bantamweight division at the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships who turned professional in 2020, showed the resilience that had carried her to 11 wins without defeat. She recovered from the knockdown, kept coming forward, and both fighters landed clean shots in an action-packed final round in which Ali finished strongly with powerful right hands.

The scorecards divide opinion

When the scores were read out, the split was stark. Santos and Giampa had Ali ahead by five and three points respectively, while Novoa had Kreps ahead by seven, a swing of 12 points between the widest cards for each fighter. That spread, combined with the punch statistics, turned a career-defining win for Ali into one of the most debated decisions of the year in women's boxing.

Some commentators called the result a robbery and argued that Kreps should be granted an immediate rematch. No rematch had been ordered at the time of writing, and neither camp had confirmed what would happen next. What was not in dispute was the result: Ali left Arlington as the IBF and WBO super-bantamweight champion, and Kreps left with her unbeaten record gone.

The titles had been vacant after Ellie Scotney moved up to featherweight. On the same card, Australia's Skye Nicolson retained the WBC super-bantamweight title with a unanimous decision over Japan's Miyo Yoshida, raising the prospect of a unification fight between Ali and Nicolson for three of the four major belts.

What the win means for Ali

For Ali, the victory is about far more than two belts. She is the first Somali woman to become a professional boxer and the first boxer to represent Somalia at the Olympic Games, competing at Tokyo 2020. In 2025, the President of Somalia awarded her the Medal of Honour in Mogadishu in recognition of how she has represented the country on the world stage.

That journey, from fleeing war as a child to winning world titles in Texas at 37, is why the moment in Arlington carried such emotion. Ali has also built a career beyond boxing as a model, author and campaigner, but she has always said the world championship was the achievement she wanted most.

The debate over the scorecards will follow her into her first title defence, and a rematch with Kreps or a unification bout with Nicolson would both be compelling next steps. For now, though, the record books are clear. Ramla Ali, 12-2 with 3 knockouts, is the IBF and WBO super-bantamweight champion, and Mikiah Kreps, 11-1 with 3 knockouts, must rebuild after a first defeat that many felt she did not deserve.