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Hocine Soltani

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Hocine Soltani
Personal information
Full nameHocine Soltani
Nationality Algeria
Born(1972-12-27)December 27, 1972
Thénia, Boumerdès
DiedMarch 2002(2002-03-00) (aged 29)
near Marseille, France
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
SportBoxing
Weight classFeatherweight
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Lightweight
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Barcelona Featherweight
World Amateur Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1991 Sydney Featherweight
All-Africa Games
Gold medal – first place 1991 Cairo Featherweight
Mediterranean Games
Silver medal – second place 1993 Languedoc-Roussillon Lightweight

Hocine Soltani (December 1972 – March 2002) was an Algerian boxer, who won two Olympic medals. In 1992, the southpaw placed third in the featherweight division (54–57 kg), and at the 1996 Summer Olympics he won the gold medal in the lightweight division.

Early life

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Hocine Soltani was born in the Algerian town of Thénia on 27 December 1972.[1] 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, using his left hand as a low guard near his hip.[2]

Boxing career

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Amateur career

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He came joint third with Arnaldo Mesa at the 1991 World Amateur Boxing Championships.[3] Soltani was selected for the Olympics for the first time for the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain, competing in the featherweight division. He reached the semi-final, where he was defeated by eventual gold medallist Andreas Tews of Germany.[4] 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."[2]

Soltani returned to the Olympics at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, United States, competing this time in the lightweight division. In the first round, he defeated Turkey's Vahdettin İşsever 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. 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 by a score of only 9–6.[5]

In the final of the Atlanta Games, Soltani faced Bulgarian Tontcho Tontchev.[6] 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).[5][7] This was the first time any Algerian had won an Olympic gold medal in boxing.[5] No Algeria boxer would win another Olympic boxing gold medal until Imane Khelif did so in 2024.[8]

Professional career

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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. 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.[1][9] His nephew, Mebarek Soltani went on to compete for Algeria at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics in boxing, but did not match his uncle's success, being unable to win any medals.[10]

Later life and death

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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.[2]

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,[2] and was buried in Boudouaou.[11] 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;[2] however, rumours continued of an underworld connection.[11]

Career

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Olympic Games

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World Amateur Boxing Championships

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African Amateur Boxing Championships

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All-Africa Games

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Mediterranean Games

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International tournaments

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  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Italia Junior ( Santa Teresa Gallura, Italy ) 1989 (-51 kg)
  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) IItalia Junior( Alghero, Italy) 1990 (-51 kg)
  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Balaton Junior Cup (Siofok, Hungary) 1990 (-51 kg)
  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) President's Cup ( Jakarta, Indonesia ) 1994 (- 60 kg )
  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Golden Belt Tournament ( Bucharest, Romania) 1994 (- 60 kg )
  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Trofeo Italia ( Mestre, Italy) 1995 (- 63,5 kg)
  • Quarterfinals Giraldo Cordova Cardin Tournament (Camaguey, Cuba) 1996 (- 63,5 kg)
  • Quarterfinals Giraldo Cordova Cardin Tournament (Cienfuegos, Cuba) 1994 (- 60 kg )

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Hocine Soltani, le "golden boy" de la boxe algérienne". Ennahar TV. 20 October 2013. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Hocine Soltani, un conte de fée brutalement stoppé". Le Vif (in French). 4 August 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  3. ^ "World Amateur Boxing Championships". GBRAthletics,com. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Boxing at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games: Men's Featherweight". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  5. ^ a b c "Boxing at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Men's Lightweight". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  6. ^ Buffery, Steve (26 October 2014). "Mike Strange still has fighting spirit". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  7. ^ "What is countback?". Irish Independent. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  8. ^ Beacham, Greg (9 August 2024). "Boxer Imane Khelif wins gold to cap an Olympics marked by scrutiny over her sex". Associated Press. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Hocine Soltani". BoxRec. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Mebarek Soltani". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  11. ^ a b El Kadi, Ihsane (13 August 2016). "Benchabla face au Boxit et au sortilège caché de Hocine Soltani". Huffington Post. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
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