Hocine Soltani (December 1972 – March 2002) was an Algerian boxer, who won two Olympic medals. In 1992, the southpaw placed third in 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, t ...

division (54–57 kg), and at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

he won the gold medal in the

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

division.

Early life

Hocine Soltani was born in the Algerian town of Thénia on 27 December 1972. He was introduced to boxing by his older brother Omar, who had already trained several other fighters. Omar later explained, "It is a school of life and discipline that allowed him not to drag, he quickly proved diligent and determined." Soltani fought right-handed in the

southpaw stance In boxing and some other sports, a southpaw stance is where the boxer has the right hand and the right foot forward, leading with right jabs, and following with a left cross right hook. It is the normal stance for a left-handed boxer. The corres ...

, using his left hand as a low guard near his hip.

Boxing career

Amateur career

He came joint third with

Arnaldo Mesa Arnaldo Mesa Bonell (6 December 1967 – 17 December 2012) was an amateur boxer from Cuba, who won the silver medal for his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. In the final of the Bantamweight (– 54 ...

at the

1991 World Amateur Boxing Championships The Men's 1991 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Sydney, Australia, from November 15 to 23. The sixth edition of this competition, held nearly a year before the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, was organised by the world's go ...

. Soltani was selected for the Olympics for the first time for the 1992 Summer Games in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain, competing in the

division. He reached the semi final, where he was defeated by eventual gold medallist

Andreas Tews Andreas Tews (born 11 September 1968) is a German former amateur boxer. Tews won the Flyweight Silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the Featherweight Gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. His first international success came with hi ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Omar said that "By the end of the Barcelona Olympics, the goal was to come back to win the gold this time. For us it was an even higher level. Nothing to do with the World Championships or the African Championships which was Hocine was each time medalist." Soltani returned to the Olympics at the 1996 Summer Games in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, United States, competing this time in the

division. In the first round, he defeated Turkey's

Vahdettin İşsever Vahdettin İşsever (born 7 August 1968) is a boxer from Turkey, who won the bronze medal in the Men's Lightweight (– 60 kg) division at the 1996 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Vejle, Denmark, alongside Italy's Christian G ...

with a points decision of 14-2. The winning margin was slightly less in the second round, when he won 11-1 against Agnaldo Nunes of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. From the quarter finals onwards, the decisions were increasingly close. Against South Korea's Shin Eun-Chul, the score was 16-10, and Soltani won in the semi final against favourite Leonard Doroftei of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

by a score of only 9-6. In the final of the Atlanta Games, Soltani faced Bulgarian

Tontcho Tontchev Toncho Dimitrov Tonchev ( bg, Тончо Димитров Тончев) (born December 1, 1972 in Sliven) is a Bulgarian boxer, who won the Lightweight Silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Tontchev also represented his native countr ...

. After leading the Bulgarian 2-1 in the final round, Soltani was penalised by the referee by both his points, but soon leveled the score. With the score level at the end of the match, the victory was given to Soltani following a count back (where each hit scored by the two boxers are counted). This was the first time any Algerian had won an Olympic gold medal in boxing.

Professional career

Hocine turned pro in 1998, and made his professional debut against Michael Jobert on 30 November 1998 at the Palais des Sports in Paris, France, winning by

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...

. He fought twice more in France in 1999, winning against Aziz Makloufi with a points decision and then against David Sarraille with a knockout. Hocine fought for a final time on 27 January 2000, his only professional bout in Algeria, against Fabrice Colombel in a split decision. His nephew, Mebarek Soltani went on to compete for Algeria at the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

and 2004 Summer Olympics in boxing, but did not match his uncle's success, being unable to win any medals.

Later life and death

Following his retirement from boxing following his four professional bouts, Soltani began working in the importing and exporting of cars in Marseille, where he had settled with his wife and child. On 1 March 2002, he left to meet with a man who wanted to have two cars exported to Algeria. It was the last time he would be seen alive by his family. During the course of the next two years, there were theories that he had relocated to the United States or Japan. When a body was found in September 2004, the idea that it could be Soltani was met with skepticism by his brother, but DNA tests demonstrated that it was the missing ex-boxer. Soltani's mother travelled to France from Algeria to provide the investigators with a baseline with which to compare the DNA evidence. The body was repatriated to Algeria, and was buried in Boudouaou. The man with whom Soltani met that day was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison for kidnapping and the subsequent death of the victim; however, rumours continued of an underworld connection.

Career

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Olympic Games 1996 (Atlanta, USA) (- 60kg ) * Med_3

Olympic Games 1992 (Barcelona, Spain) (- 57kg )

World Amateur Boxing Championships The IBA World Boxing Championships, and the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships (previously known as AIBA), are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is the sport governing body. A ...

World Amateur Boxing Championships 1991 (Sydney, Australia) (- 57kg ) * Quarter-finals World Amateur Boxing Championships 1993 (Tampere, Finland) (- 60kg ) * Preliminaries 1/16 World Amateur Boxing Championships 1995 (Berlin, Germany) (- 63,5kg) * Quarter-finals World Cup 1994 (Bangkok, Thailand) (- 60kg )

African Amateur Boxing Championships

* African Amateur Boxing Championships 1994 (

Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

) (- 60kg ) * African Olympic Qualifications 1996 (- 63,5kg)

All-Africa Games

* All-Africa Games 1991 (

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

) (- 57kg )

Mediterranean Games

* Mediterranean Games 1993 ( Narbonne, France) (- 60kg )

International tournaments

* Italia Junior ( Santa Teresa Gallura, Italy ) 1989 (-51kg) * IItalia Junior( Alghero, Italy) 1990 (-51kg) * Balaton Junior Cup (Siofok, Hungary) 1990 (-51kg) * President's Cup ( Jakarta, Indonesia ) 1994 (- 60kg ) * Golden Belt Tournament ( Bucharest, Romania) 1994 (- 60kg ) * Trofeo Italia ( Mestre, Italy) 1995 (- 63,5kg) *Quarterfinals Giraldo Cordova Cardin Tournament (Camaguey, Cuba) 1996 (- 63,5kg) *Quarterfinals Giraldo Cordova Cardin Tournament (Cienfuegos, Cuba) 1994 (- 60kg )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soltani, Hocine 1972 births 2000s missing person cases 2002 deaths 2002 murders in France African Games gold medalists for Algeria African Games medalists in boxing AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Algerian male boxers Algerian people murdered abroad Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Competitors at the 1991 All-Africa Games Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Featherweight boxers Formerly missing people Lightweight boxers Male murder victims Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games medalists in boxing Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Algeria Missing person cases in France Olympic boxers of Algeria Olympic bronze medalists for Algeria Olympic gold medalists for Algeria Olympic medalists in boxing People from Boumerdès Province People from Thénia People from Thénia District People murdered in France