1. Alphonse Halimi took the Undisputed World Bantamweight Championship on April 1,1957, in Paris, and the European Bantamweight Championship five years later.
26 Facts About Alphonse Halimi
1. 2.
Alphonse Halimi was born in Constantine, Algeria, to an Orthodox Jewish family.
3.
Alphonse Halimi was the last of 13 children, only seven of whom reached adulthood.
4.
Alphonse Halimi was an excellent swimmer, but he chose boxing as his calling.
5.
Alphonse Halimi was Jewish, and sewed a star of David on his red and green training shorts.
6.
Alphonse Halimi's hero was the Algerian-born Marcel Cerdan, and he would carry a photo of his idol at the bottom of his suitcase throughout his career.
7.
Alphonse Halimi won more than 100 matches before being noticed by a trainer and being asked to come to France.
8.
Alphonse Halimi began to box as an amateur at age sixteen, and knew that he could expand on his amateur credentials while in the military.
9.
The partisan Parisian crowd of 17,000 watched Alphonse Halimi take eleven of the fifteen rounds, while D'Agata managed to win only two.
10.
On November 6,1957, Alphonse Halimi faced Raul Macias in his second title bout at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field.
11.
Alphonse Halimi shook Macias with a hook to the jaw in the furious fourth round, though the bout featured no knockdowns.
12.
The pace of the bout was slow, until the sixth when Alphonse Halimi landed two hard left hooks to the body of Campo.
13.
The pace of the ten round bout displeased the French crowd, but Alphonse Halimi won the close decision.
14.
Alphonse Halimi defeated Peter Keenan in a ten-round points decision in Paris on November 17,1958.
15.
Alphonse Halimi defended his title against Jose Becerra on July 8,1959, before a screaming crowd of 15,000 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
16.
Alphonse Halimi knocked out Spanish Bantamweight Champion Juan Cardenas, bringing victory in the third round in Algiers on July 2,1960.
17.
On October 25,1960, Alphonse Halimi defeated Irishman Freddie Gilroy, defending his World Bantamweight Championship in a controversial fifteen round points decision.
18.
Alphonse Halimi scored the bout's only real knockdown with a short right hook in the thirteenth round for a count of four.
19.
Alphonse Halimi slipped once to the mat in the seventh without taking a count.
20.
Alphonse Halimi later noted it was one of his best fights.
21.
Alphonse Halimi lost the title one year later on May 30,1961, to Johnny Caldwell.
22.
Alphonse Halimi sent Renard to the canvas five times before he was finally counted out.
23.
Alphonse Halimi regained the European Bantamweight Title on June 26,1962, defeating Piero Rollo in Tel Aviv.
24.
Alphonse Halimi, who wore the Star of David on his trunks, was cheered by the Israeli crowd of 15,000 through all fifteen rounds.
25.
Alphonse Halimi later worked as a trainer for the l'Institut National des Sports, and became a swimming teacher in Vichy and Meudon.
26.
Alphonse Halimi died on November 12,2006, from pneumonia, and was interred at the Parisian cemetery of Pantin on November 14.