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13 Facts About Hocine Soltani

1.

Hocine Soltani was an Algerian boxer, who won two Olympic medals.

2.

Hocine Soltani was born in the Algerian town of Thenia on 27 December 1972.

3.

Hocine Soltani was introduced to boxing by his older brother Omar, who had already trained several other fighters.

4.

Hocine Soltani came joint third with Arnaldo Mesa at the 1991 World Amateur Boxing Championships.

5.

Hocine Soltani was selected for the Olympics for the first time for the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain, competing in the featherweight division.

6.

Hocine Soltani reached the semi-final, where he was defeated by eventual gold medallist Andreas Tews of Germany.

7.

Nothing to do with the World Championships or the African Championships which was Hocine Soltani was each time medalist.

8.

Hocine Soltani returned to the Olympics at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, United States, competing this time in the lightweight division.

9.

Hocine Soltani 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.

10.

Hocine Soltani fought twice more in France in 1999, winning against Aziz Makloufi with a points decision and then against David Sarraille with a knockout.

11.

Hocine Soltani fought for a final time on 27 January 2000, his only professional bout in Algeria, against Fabrice Colombel in a split decision.

12.

Hocine Soltani's mother travelled to France from Algeria to provide the investigators with a baseline with which to compare the DNA evidence.

13.

The man with whom Hocine 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.