Career
Khalfi, who started boxing at the age of 17, quickly rose through the ranks. Named "Golden Glove," Hocine found himself in Paris where he began to deliver his first professional battles. He was only 18 years old.
Over his 9-year career (1948–1957), Khalfi scored 16 knockouts.
His final record was 47-22-7. Khalfi is best known for his May 1954 defeat of Sandy Saddler in major upset bout.
During his career he fought notable fighters such as Cisco Andrade, Ralph Dupas, and Fernando Silva. On March 9, 1956 he was the main event at Madison Square Garden against Ludwig Lightburn.
The following day, the New York Journal said that it was the first time in boxing history that a main event was lost due to the birth of twins.
The title of the article read: "Khalfi"s Pilot Has Twin Alibi". During his attendance of a taping of The Editor Sullivan Show, he was pulled on stage by Editor Sullivan, who was a big boxing fan. The 1954 cover of Boxing and Wrestling Magazine, of which Khalfi graced the cover and had a featured article, was shown in the movie Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Khalfi retired from boxing in 1957, aged 29, due to a recurrent eye ulcer that he sustained in one of his fights.
He later became a chef working at such notable places as the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Beverly Hills Hotel, and Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles). He lived in Los Angeles, California before moving to France in March, 2008.
And later moving back to Algeria.
