King Mohammed VI has extended his heartfelt congratulations to Widad Bertal, the Moroccan boxer who recently clinched the world championship title in the 52-54 kg category at the 2025 Women’s World Boxing Championships in Nis, Serbia.
Bertal’s victory on Sunday, March 16th, has sparked national pride, and the King’s message underscored the significance of her achievement. He praised Bertal’s dedication, perseverance, and ambition, which led her to represent Morocco triumphantly on the global stage.
In his message, the Sovereign highlighted that Bertal’s victory places her among the elite champions, sharing the nation’s immense pride in her success. He also conveyed his best wishes for her future competitions.
Bertal’s path to victory included a decisive 5-2 win against Turkey’s Hatice Akbas, the 2022 world champion and Paris 2024 Olympic runner-up. Prior to that, she overcame Serbia’s Sara Cirkovic with a 4-3 victory in the semi-finals. Bertal’s prior successes include gold medals at the African Championships in Yaoundé (2023) and Kinshasa (2024).
Adding to Morocco’s success at the championships, Hasna Larti secured a bronze medal in the 75-81 kg category. Larti advanced to the semi-finals by defeating Bulgaria’s Victoriya Kebikava via referee stoppage (RSC). However, she was defeated by Russia’s Saltanat Medenova in the semi-finals by a unanimous 5-0 decision.
The Women’s World Boxing Championships took place from March 8th to 16th, 2025.
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