Abdul Ali (; born 6 May 1969), better known as his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Ali Jacko (), is a British former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

who was two-time world

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

who competed between 1990 and 2002. He is the first ever Bangladeshi to be a world champion in combat sports and the first ever Asian kickboxing world champion. He also ran JKO Productions, which was part of the kickboxing promotion of

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

and Channel 5.

Early life

Ali was born in the East End of London. He is of

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

descent Jacko Ali and lived in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

for six years. His late father Mohammed Chamak Ali was born in Paigaon, Jawa Bazar,

Chhatak Chhatak (; formerly known as Chhatak Bazaar) is a town in northeastern Bangladesh, on the Surma River in Chhatak Upazila of Sunamganj District in the division of Sylhet. References Further reading * {{cite book , last=Hossain , first=Ash ...

Sylhet District Sylhet District (), located in north-east Bangladesh, is one of the four districts in Sylhet Division, which contains Sylhet, the regional capital. History Sylhet District was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Benga ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

(now

Sunamganj Sunamganj (, is a town in the Sylhet Division of northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative headquarters and largest town of Sunamganj District. It is located on the banks of the Surma River, approximately west-northwest of Sylhet, the ...

, Bangladesh),

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. Ali has three younger brothers and two younger sisters. Ali attended

Sir John Cass Redcoat School Stepney All Saints Church of England Secondary School (formerly known as Sir John Cass's Foundation and Redcoat School) is a Church of England voluntary aided school and sixth form located in Stepney, London, England. The last Ofsted report in ...

. At an early age, he played Junior League football and became the BMX Freestyle Schoolboy champion. From 1987, at the age of 17, he ran his own fashion design and manufacturing business. Ali was inspired to take up kickboxing by a chance meeting on an airplane with

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

, despite having a serious heart condition.

Professional kickboxing career

In 1986, Ali started training as a kickboxer. On 2 December 1990, he won his first B.I.K.M.A British lightweight kickboxing title. In February 1996, he won the W.M.O European kickboxing title. On 3 October 1999, he won the W.K.N World Inter-Continental Championship. On 26 May 1996, he defeated Frederic Pierre to win the W.K.O World lightweight kickboxing title at The Island in Ilford. In June 2000, Ali took his second World lightweight kickboxing title, this time in the World Kickboxing Network belt. Ali became the first Asian to win British, European, Inter-Continental and World Full-Contact kickboxing championships. He had a 45 fight career, with one defeat by submission due to injury. Ali's manager and trainer Eddie Dujon took him through his British, European and World Championship fights. Ali retired from kickboxing in 2002.

Media career

In July 1997, Ali launched JKO TV, which produces and provides programmes for terrestrial, satellite and corporate clients. It filmed Thai and kickboxing on

and Channel 5. In June 2000, Ali launched the UK's first all Kick / Thai-boxing magazine ''Kick Boxing UK''.

Other work

In 2011, CA Foundation was established, the foundation is based on a charity dedicated to Ali's father, Chamak Ali. The foundation's objectives are to build hospitals and football stadiums besides creating jobs for the poor people. In November 2014, Ali conducted a trial among Bangladeshi boxers at the Muhammad Ali Boxing Stadium. The selected boxers were supposed to be given the opportunity to train in the UK to help them enter the professional circuit. In June 2015, Ali brought his boxer protégé, Suro Chakma, from Bangladesh to train under his supervision at Martin Bowers' gym. In November of the same year, Ali went to India to scout talent and earmarked eight boxers, including World Boxing Council Asian champion, Neeraj Goyat, in his scheme of helping them train in England and managing fights for them. Ali is in talks with famous British professional-boxing promoter

Barry Hearn Barry Maurice William Hearn (born 19 June 1948) is an English sports promoter who is founder and president of Matchroom Sport. Through Matchroom, Hearn is also involved in many sports including boxing, snooker, darts, pool, tenpin bowling, gol ...

. In August 2015, Ali started receiving vocal training. On 4 November 2015, Ali's debut single "Give My Love A Brand New Name" was released by record label LBE Music Group. The music video was shot in London, conceptualised by

Talvin Singh Talvin Singh OBE (born 1970) is a British musician, producer, and composer. A tabla player, he is known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music with drum and bass. Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica ...

. and features supermodel and television personality

Jodie Kidd Jodie Elizabeth Kidd (born 25 September 1978) is an English fashion model and television personality. Early life Named after Jodie Foster, Kidd was born in 1978 and is the daughter of the businessman and former showjumper Johnny Kidd. She is ...

. His debut album is due to be released in 2016. In December of the same year, he was interviewed by Nadia Ali on

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...

Awards

Ali won the Canary Wharf Sporting Personality Award in 2001 and the UK Asian Sporting Award in 2003.

Personal life

Ali is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, and lives in London with his wife and son. He also has a daughter. His mother lives in Bangladesh. Ali is close of friends with Bollywood actor

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; born 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who predominantly works in Hindi films. In a career spanning over three decades, his awards include two National Film Awa ...

. In 1996, Khan helped promote Ali's first world title bout and came to watch it in London, and they have been friends ever since.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacko, Ali 1969 births Living people English Muslims English people of Bangladeshi descent English male kickboxers British wushu practitioners English jujutsuka Lightweight kickboxers English television producers English publishers (people) English male singers Publishers (people) from London Sportspeople from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People educated at Sir John Cass Redcoat School People from Sunamganj District 20th-century Bangladeshi sportsmen 21st-century Bangladeshi sportsmen 20th-century English sportsmen 21st-century English sportsmen