Sadam Ali will be making an unexpected comeback on August 31 after retiring in 2019 following an unfortunate set of setbacks that damaged his boxing career.
Known as one of America’s best prospects during his amateur days, Ali made a lot of noise prior to his professional career after accomplishing impressive feats including being a Junior Olympics champion, winning the prestigious New York City Golden Gloves twice, and beating the likes of Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s) during his tenure as an amateur.
By the time Ali made his professional debut in 2009 ― debuting at welterweight (147 lbs) just little less than a year after Crawford made his professional debut in 2008. Sadam Ali would go on to stop his opponent in the 1st round, quickly drawing comparisons drawn to British Hall of Famer Naseem Hamed due to their shared Yemeni origins.
An unbeaten winning streak would follow for Ali to confirm his status as a hot prospect with world champion potential. His first world title opportunity arrived in 2016 when he faced Jessie Vargas for the vacant WBO 147-pound title.
It was here that Ali’s career took a downturn as he ended up stopped by Vargas in the contest in the 9th round. Despite the setback, Sadam Ali fought his way back into a contending position before facing a 36-year old, heavily-weathered Puerto Rican fighter Miguel Cotto in 2017 to claim Cotto’s WBO super welterweight (154 lbs) title and finally become a world champion. Cotto would retire shortly afterwards to call quits to an illustrious career.
His very next match held in 2018, Ali stumbled into another technical knockout (TKO) defeat to rising Mexican star Jaime Munguia (45-2, 35 KO’s) who challenged him for his WBO title. No longer a world champion, Ali attempted to scramble back to the top, doing well to record a solid unanimous decision (UD) victory over countryman Mauricio Herrera, but his following match he was stopped for the third time of his career against American contender Anthony Young.
Sadam Ali did not return to the ring thereafter and seemed virtually retired until the now 36-year old fighter was confirmed for an August 31st bout against journeyman Cody Wilson by BoxRec:
Now the same age as Miguel Cotto when they faced each other in 2017, Ali’s return signifies a renewed vigor to potentially seek to challenge once more but faces some challenges due to his advanced age and long-term ring rust. Still, Ali joins a list of other former world champions who made a return after a long hiatus, with Ukrainian fighter Oleksandr Gvozdyk (21-2, 17 KO’s) the most recent notable name to return and reach some success.
Gvozdyk is currently considered a top 10/15 contender at light-heavyweight (175 lbs) after returning from a four-year hiatus in 2023, with his last match prior to his hiatus in 2019 having occurred against former undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev (21-1, 20 KO’s).
Sadam Ali will be competing at 154 pounds against Cody Wilson in a 10-round contest at the Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit, Michigan.
