Somali boxer Ramla Ali defeated Mikiah Kreps on a split decision to take the vacant IBF and WBO super bantamweight titles. The ten-round contest ended with two judges favouring Ali and the other backing Kreps. Ali scored a third-round knockdown, while Kreps kept pressing through the later rounds in her first world-title challenge.
Sports··Evening
Two belts decided by split scorecards
Somali boxer Ramla Ali won the vacant International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization super bantamweight championships by defeating Mikiah Kreps on points in Arlington, Texas.[1], [2]
The bout at the MVPW-07 event lasted ten rounds. Two judges backed Ali, scoring the contest 97-92 and 96-93, while the third favoured Kreps by 98-91. The official result was a split decision and gave Ali both titles. Kreps entered the ring unbeaten and was making her first attempt at a world championship, having won each of her eleven previous professional contests.[1]
A knockdown and sustained pressure
Ali’s left hand brought Kreps’ glove down to the canvas in the third round, prompting a knockdown count. The exchange continued with punches to the body and head from both fighters. Ali received holding warnings in the fourth and fifth rounds as the contest repeatedly moved into close range. Kreps kept pursuing combinations in the later stages and increased her pressure in the eighth. Ali opened the final round with a right hand, met by a flurry from Kreps. Neither stopped exchanging inside before the last bell left the outcome with the judges. In the fifth round, the referee specifically warned Ali that another holding offence carried a point-deduction warning.[1]
Ali brings Olympic experience to the title bout
Ali became England’s national champion in 2016 and later represented Somalia at the Tokyo Olympics as the country’s first Olympic boxer. Her professional career began in 2020, and she arrived in Arlington with eleven wins and two losses. She had already held the federation’s Inter-Continental super bantamweight belt and challenged for the World Boxing Council title in 2024. In February, she stopped Mamta Singh in the first round. Kreps brought her own amateur honours: a United States national championship in 2018 and a National Golden Gloves title in 2019. Her preceding professional appearance was a split-decision win over Juliana Basualdo in October 2025.[1]
