In February 1996, Djamel Lifa tried his luck at the European super-featherweight title, but lost on points to Russian fighter Anatoly Alexandrov. In July, a second PSG boxer had his world title chance, but Patrice Aouissi bowed to the Argentine Marcelo Domínguez by technical knockout in the ninth round. Following the fight, tensions between manager René Acquaviva and Aouissi arose due to the former's coaching.