There’s a new name coming through the ranks of Canadian boxers. Yes, Keoma-Ali Al-Ahmadieh is a young man of great potential, and he is really looking to be the real deal, with a Commonwealth Games medal already to his name.
🥉 LE BRONZE POUR #ÉQUIPECANADA 🥉
Une médaille de bronze pour le boxeur canadien ! Keoma-Ali Al Ahmadieh remporte une médaille de bronze chez les hommes 57kg. 💪#OuiCANB2022 | #B2022 | @boxing_canada pic.twitter.com/UKZffyO4iz
— Commonwealth Sport Canada (@CwthSportCAN) August 7, 2022
The next big thing in Canadian Boxing?
At only 19 years of age, Al-Ahmadieh is still learning his trade. He still boxes as an amateur, where there is no need to rush him. Al-Almadieh is 1.72 cm high and fought in the Featherweight category (54-57 kg) at the recent Commonwealth Games – although there are obvious reasons why he might not stay at that weight, which we come to later.
Al-Almadieh has plenty of potential. Of that, there is already no doubt. But with all the potential, should come a note of caution.
6° COMBATE (Campeonato Continental de boxeo olímpico)
Keoma-Ali Al-Ahmadieh 🇨🇦 vs Jahmal Harvey 🇺🇸 (Semifinal peso pluma)
🔥 EN VIVO 🔥 por #ESPNKnockOut
📺 @StarPlusLA pic.twitter.com/GLDoGj1qEZ— ESPN KnockOut (@ESPNKnockOut) March 30, 2022
There’s been a drought of real top-quality Canadian boxers over the past 30 years, so it’s imperative that too much weight isn’t placed onto the shoulders of a young man just trying to find his way. Since the glory days of Lennox Lewis and Donovan Ruddock, there has been little to shout about.
Yes, Canada has seen names like Adonis Stevenson come and go in that time, but by and large, the cupboard has been bare.
The Canadian public love boxing and they have been longing for another superstar to come along that they can get behind, with both vocal support, and financial for those who like a bet. Whether it be placing a boxing bet on a local fighter, or even on the blockbuster start to 2023 where Chris Eubank Junior is 2/5 to beat Liam Smith with the best Ontario sportsbooks, Canadians who love a boxing bet, would get behind their man.
Al-Almadieh – Already a Commonwealth Games medal winner
At the tender age of 19, Canadian boxing prospect Keoma-Ali Al-Ahmadieh already has a Commonwealth Games bronze medal to his name. And it could have been more, as the young prospect was forced to pull out of his semi-final fight against Northern Ireland’s Jude Gallagher for medical reasons.
Medical reasons are the official line stated, but it was due to Al-Ahmadieh not being able to make the weight. So could Al-Ahmadieh have got a different color medal if he had made the weight? Quite possibly.
His win over Keevin Allicock of Guyana in the quarter-finals was the highlight of the competition, although it wasn’t greeted with joy in all quarters, as the 4-1 split decision results in the Canadian’s favor was greeted with boos from the crowd. But everybody has their own view on how a fight went, and his victory over the Guyanan wasn’t treated with the same displeasure across the board.
The alternative view of that fight is that after a slow start, Al-Ahmadieh took over in the latter stages, and it was his strong finish that earned him the victory via a split decision. Split decisions in boxing are just that. Some go for you, some against you. And just because your opponent has the more vocal supporters in the arena, doesn’t mean they are right.
It could even be argued that Al-Ahmadieh’s win was all the more impressive, as he had to show a lot of heart to come back from behind and win in the face of such intimidation. It’s a great sign of character moving forward.
Sadly, we will never know now if Al-Ahmadieh would have beaten Jude Gallagher, and possibly gone on to win the gold medal. But one thing that is for sure, is that the two previous wins over Charlie Senior (3-2) of Australia in the preliminary round, and his win over Keevin Allicock (4-1) in the quarter-finals were impressive.
If anything, the win over Senior was the harder of the two. Well, at least that’s how the judges scored it!
Potential Rivals
Moving forward, there is potential for rivalries now. Jude Gallagher is only 21, and Allicock is 23. There will be plenty of opportunities for the men to fight in the future, like at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and this will at some point give Allicock and his entourage the opportunity to prove that the Commonwealth Games split decision was wrong.
Also, Jude Gallagher won his semi-final and his Gold Medal match by walkover. The Northern Irishman has already stated that it wasn’t the way he wanted to win a gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, and he will want to set the record straight, and would no doubt relish a fight with Al-Ahmadieh somewhere down the road.
If either of these fights doesn’t happen in the amateur ranks, they could be fights that are made professionally at a later date. It could just now be the case, that with a bit of patience, Canada now has another boxing superstar on its hands.
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