Hocine Khalfi (January 7, 1928August 27, 2011) (commonly misspelled, "Hoacine") was an Algerian-French boxer from

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

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. He was orphaned at the age of seven and raised by his aunt. Khalfi, who started boxing at the age of 17, quickly rose through the ranks. He was the

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

champion of Algeria in 1945. Named "Golden Glove," Hocine found himself in Paris where he began to deliver his first professional battles; He was only 18 years old. Over his 9-year career (1948–1957), Khalfi scored 16 knockouts. His final record was 47-22-7.

Professional career

Khalfi is best known for his May 1954 defeat of

Sandy Saddler Joseph "Sandy" Saddler (June 23, 1926 – September 18, 2001) was an American professional boxer. He was a two-time featherweight world champion, having also held the super featherweight title. Over his twelve-year career (1944–56), Saddler s ...

in major upset bout. During his career he fought notable fighters such as Cisco Andrade,

Ralph Dupas Ralph Dupas (October 14, 1935 – January 25, 2008) was an American boxer from New Orleans who won the world light middleweight championship. Early boxing career Dupas was the second of eleven children of a New Orleans fisherman, Peter Dupas. H ...

, and Fernando Silva. On March 9, 1956 he was the main event at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

against Ludwig Lightburn. Preoccupied by the birth of his twin daughters, Lallia and Myriam, Khalfi lost the bout. The following day, the ''

New York Journal :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

'' said that it was the first time in boxing history that a main event was lost due to the birth of twins; The title of the article read: "Khalfi's Pilot Has Twin Alibi".

Television / film appearances

During his attendance of a taping of ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'', he was pulled on stage by

Ed Sullivan Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York ...

, who was a big boxing fan. The 1954 edition of ''Boxing and Wrestling Magazine'', of which Khalfi appeared the cover and had a featured article, was shown in the movie ''

Shutter Island ''Shutter Island'' is a novel by American writer Dennis Lehane, published by HarperCollins in April 2003. It is about a U.S. Marshal who goes to an isolated hospital for the criminally insane to investigate the disappearance of a patient who is ...

'', starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

After boxing

Khalfi retired from boxing in 1957, aged 29, due to a recurrent eye ulcer that he sustained in one of his fights. He later became a chef working at such notable places as the

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze ...

Beverly Hills Hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel, also called the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Cinema of the ...

, and

Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles) The Ambassador Hotel was a hotel in Los Angeles, California. Designed by architect Myron Hunt, the Ambassador Hotel formally opened to the public on January 1, 1921. Later renovations by architect Paul Williams were made to the hotel in the la ...

. He lived in Los Angeles, California before moving to France in March, 2008; and later moving back to Algeria. Khalfi died on August 27, 2011 from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

, aged 83, in his hometown of

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leaving behind 3 daughters (Lallia, Myriam, and Nadia), 6 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.

References

External links

* *http://news80.com/en/2011/09/06/hocine-khalfi-un-grand-boxeur-parti-en-silence/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Khalfi, Hocine 1928 births 2011 deaths Lightweight boxers Algerian male boxers Sportspeople from Oran Algerian emigrants to the United States American people of Algerian descent American male boxers