His first defeat as a professional boxer occurred on 10 December 1954 in Algiers, when he was caught by the Belgian featherweight champion Louis Cabo in the 1st round by knockout, however this did not stop a continued trend of victories.
On 26 January 1956, Cherif Hamia fought in Paris against the Belgian former European champion Jean Sneyers, with the match ending a draw.
He and his manager sought a world championship fight, he went to the United States and on 30 March 1956 Cherif Hamia defeated Carmelo Costa after 10 rounds on points.
On 21 January 1957, Cherif Hamia won in Paris with a points victory after 15 rounds over Jean Sneyers for the vacant European Featherweight title.
However, in the 10th round referee Rene Schemann stopped the fight and Hogan "Kid" Bassey was proclaimed as the new champion by TKO.