 On April 1, 1957, at the Vélodrome d'hiver in Paris, Halimi became world bantamweight champion by defeating the Italian deaf-mute boxer Mario d'Agata in a fifteen-round decision.The partisan Parisian crowd of 17,000 watched Halimi take eleven of the fifteen rounds, while D'Agata managed to win only two.It was D'Agata's first title defense.