Hacine "Billy" Cherifi (born 12 December 1967) is a French former
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
who competed from 1985 to 2005. He held the
WBC middleweight title in 1998. He made two other attempts at world titles; the WBC
super middleweight title in 1997 and the
WBA middleweight title in 2000. At regional level, he twice held the French middleweight title, firstly from 1995 to 1996 and again from 2002 to 2003. He also held the
EBU European middleweight title from 1996 to 1997.
Cherifi, known as "Billy", began his pro career in 1989 and challenged for the WBC super middleweight title in 1997 against
Robin Reid, losing
split decision. After the loss, he dropped down in weight and took on WBC middleweight champion,
Keith Holmes, winning a decision, although he was dropped in the ninth round. In 1999, he lost the belt in his first defense to Holmes in a rematch via seventh-round
knockout. In 2000 he got a shot at WBA middleweight champion
William Joppy
William Torelle Joppy (born September 11, 1970) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2011, and held the WBA middleweight title three times between 1996 and 2003.
Professional career
Joppy won his first of three ...
. Cherifi was dominated and knocked down in Rounds 8 and 9, and lost by decision. In 2001 he took on
Harry Simon for the interim WBO middleweight title and lost a decision in what would be his last shot at a major title. He retired in 2005 after suffering a
TKO loss to
Rudy Markussen.
External links
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1967 births
Living people
French sportspeople of Algerian descent
French male boxers
Middleweight boxers
Algerian male boxers
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