▪️She’s now living in her own house in Casablanca she bought with the $100,000 prize money earned in the 2023 Women’s World Championships
Towering Moroccan multiple African gold medallist and 2023 world heavyweight champion Khadija Mardi has every reason to feel proud of IBA’s leadership under Russian billionaire Umar Kremlev.
Mardi, the first African female boxer to win a world title in 2023, is now a proud owner of a four-bedroomed house in Casablanca, Morocco.
“I thank Kremlev so much, I bought my house with the $100,000 prize money I received in New Delhi for winning the world title,” Khadija told boxersworld.co.ke in an interview from her house in Casablanca as she cuddled her last-born baby Chams.
“IBA prize money has changed the lives of many boxers in the world, we’re proud of what Kremlev and his team are doing for the boxers.
“No other boxing organisation in the world can match what the IBA is doing for the boxers, it’s just amazing. I never expected to live in my own house especially in Casablanca buying a house is very expensive but through Kremlev I own one now,” says a jovial Khadija.
She also bought a family car with part of the $50,000 prize money she earned at the 2022 Women’s World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey where she won a silver medal.
Khadija is also a beneficiary of $10,000 she won at the 2022 African Elite Championships in Maputo, $15,000 in Yaounde and $3000 in Kinshasa.
The Moroccan mother of four girls – Ilham, Fatima Zahra, Soultana and Chams – is aiming to win her fourth continental crown in this year’s African Elite Championships.
“I’m happy IBA will have $1 million prize money, I’m waiting they announce the venue we start preparing to earn more cash,” says the amiable Khadija who currently has no opposition in the heavyweight division and has never lost in Africa.
She has won gold twice in the African Games, in 2019 at middleweight and 2023 African Games in Accra and three gold medals in the African Elite Championships.
In the Women’s World Championships, Khadija first won a bronze at middleweight in 2019 in Ulan-Ude, Russia, silver in Turkey and gold in New Delhi among her many accolades at the big stage.
Khadija has appealed to the IBA to increase more prize money tournaments in Africa.
“Boxing is my business, I do nothing else but boxing, I’ll stick with IBA the top boxing body in the world,” says Khadija with a deserved sense of pride.
