Cover image: Battling Siki (detail) by Camara Gueye
© Entrée to Black Paris

When I wrote about La Galerie Africaine's last show for 2026, D'un Ailleurs à l'Autre 2, I talked about two works that evoked boxing.  

One was a sculpture by Jean-Claude K-Bô.

Boudoum
Jean-Claude K-Bô
Composite materials, hemp fibers, acrylic, Posca markers
© Entrée to Black Paris

The other was a painting of Battling Siki (né Amadou Louis M'barick Fall) by Camara Gueye.

Battling Siki
Camara Gueye
Acrylic on canvas
© Entrée to Black Paris

These works inspired me to reflect on the history of Black boxers in France.

Entrée to Black Paris has published three articles on this topic in the past:

Sugar Ray Robinson in 1950s Paris

"Panama" Al Brown - Boxing in Paris 

"Panama" Al Brown and the Dakar-Djibouti Mission

Today, we're looking at the life and career of Battling Siki.  He was the first Africa-born world champion of boxing.

Also known as Louis Phal, Siki was born in Saint-Louis, Senegal in the late 19th century.  Much of what I've read or heard about him is contested, even his date of birth.

(Most sources say he was born on September 22, 1897, but he gave his birth date as December 15, 1899 in an 1925 interview for Le Matin.)

He was brought to France as a preteen (some reports say age 10; some, age 11) by a European actress (one source says German; another, Dutch; another, French) and abandoned in Marseille.  He began boxing as a teenager.

He voluntarily enlisted as a soldier of the 8th Colonial Infantry Regiment (an all-African unit) during World War I, became a warrant officer for the regiment, and received two medals (Croix de Guerre and Médaille Militaire) for his service.

Returning to boxing thereafter, he fought a middleweight champion and a heavyweight champion in non-title bouts, winning both of them.

Battling Siki
June 11, 1922
Image in public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons

On September 24, 1922, when he stepped into the ring with world light-heavyweight champion Georges Carpentier at the Buffalo Stadium in the Paris suburb of Montrouge, it was ostensibly to participate in a fair fight. 

But the bout had been fixed, and Carpentier was supposed to emerge the victor.

During the fourth round, Siki recovered his self-esteem and abandoned the plan.  He knocked Carpentier out in the sixth round.

Buffalo Stadium in Montrouge, September 24, 1922
Match between Georges Carpentier and Battling Siki
Press photo / Agence Rol
Collection Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Image in public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons

The referee initially disqualified Siki, saying that he tripped Carpentier.  But the crowd displayed such displeasure that after twenty minutes of discussion among the judges, the decision was reversed.

That day, Siki became the light-heavyweight champion of the world.

Watch excerpts of the fight HERE.

Many of the stories published by the press about the fight were unabashedly racist.

In November 1922, the French Boxing Federation stripped Siki of his French boxing titles and revoked his license, so he was no longer able to work in France. 

Senegalese Deputy Blaise Diagne defended him, and his license was restored.

 Blaise Diagne
Agence Meurisse 
Collection: Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Image in public domain
Source: Wikimedia Commons

But Siki's professional career went downhill from that point on.

After being denied the opportunity to fight in England because of his race, he went to Ireland, where he "lost" his world title to Mike McTigue on March 17, 1923.

In fact, though the Irish referee declared McTigue the winner and the British and American Boxing Federations subsequently declared him the new light-heavyweight champion of the world, the International Boxing Union did not accept this declaration because the fight was not conducted according to their regulations and international judges were not present. 

In their view, the title was never in dispute.   

Subsequent bouts in France were organized amidst multiple managerial conflicts and lawsuits, and Siki finally decided to try his hand at boxing in the U.S.  He set sail for New York on the RMS Berengaria in August 1923.

Siki frequently did not train appropriately for matches in the U.S. and his boxing record there was poor.  He was involved in several public altercations, one of which led to him being targeted for deportation.

On December 15, 1925, Siki was murdered on 41st Street in Hell's Kitchen in New York City.  Two bullets fired in his back at close range ended his life.

His assailant was never caught.

Siki's funeral was held in Harlem, with Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. presiding.  He was buried in a common grave in Flushing Cemetery.

Through the efforts of the African Boxing Union and the World Boxing Council, his body was repatriated to Senegal in 1993.

An award-winning documentary called Return to Your Corner presents Siki's life and career.  It is being streamed on several channels—some paid, some free. 

Find them here.