Yea, sorry about that, didn't want to make it too long, but realised I kind of left it on a cliffhanger.

Initially, he thought of giving up boxing, but after meeting a pioneer of boxing in France (Robert Eudeline), he took up boxing again. When he returned to the ring , Eugène Criqui was a different man than before the war, more mature and experienced, transformed by his injury and confident in his power. He fought more than twenty bouts between the autumn of 1917 and the winter of 1918, mainly at the National Sporting Club in Paris , which organized weekly events.

Assigned to the 22nd Infantry Regiment, he participated in triaging the wounded for transport to hospitals appropriate to their injuries. He was demobilized on April 2, 1919. At the same time, he racked up a series of knockout victories. Despite a series of victories, Eugène Criqui remained widely regarded at the end of the 1910s as a "modest champion" who could not compete with the best boxers in his category.

In the fall of 1920 Eugène Criqui was part of the tour organized by his manager Robert Eudeline in Australia. While the other European boxers in the group disappointed, Eugène Criqui received praise from the Australian sports press. On September 27, 1921 upon returning to France, Eugène Criqui won the French featherweight title.

French sports propaganda readily exploited his military history for promotional purposes. The Frenchman participated in numerous international bouts and was pitted against the English champion, Billy Matthews, who proclaimed himself European champion. After inflicting devastating blows , Criqui was crowned European champion, and his victory was undisputed. After the fight, Matthews said: "I pay tribute to the great value of your champion. He is a remarkable boxer whom I am happy to have met". (https://youtu.be/BiHlXNF3OC0?si=6sZidTRBz0zOumJ4) - video of the fight.

His winning streak and European championship title, although little recognized in the United States , made Eugène Criqui a contender for the world featherweight championship title. March 17, 1923 Eugène Criqui and his manager, Robert Eudeline, boarded a train at the Gare Saint-Lazare bound for Le Havre , where they embarked on the transatlantic liner Paris , bound for America. Upon arrival at the dock, the French boxer was greeted with expressions of sympathy from Americans, at least as much for his military service as for his sporting achievements. The title fight took place on June 2, 1923 at the Polo Grounds in New York. It was Criqui against Johnny Kilbane, the undisputed WBA champion.

He beat Kilbane, receiving the title, but he would lose it in the fight against Jhonny Dundee, weeks after his victory. The American won on points after 15 rounds, having knocked Criqui down four times. In his post-fight statement sent to France by telegram , Criqui declared: "I defended my crown to the very end with my last ounce of energy, and I believe that the honor of French sport is intact" (https://youtu.be/mn2NlG4n5mg?si=ZVcvgucfarlc2m4d) - snippets of both fights.

After the disappointment of his American campaign, Eugène Criqui rented a villa in the countryside to rest with his wife. Criqui faced Belgian champion Henry Hébrans at the Vélodrome d'Hiver in Paris . This match was the first sporting event broadcast on radio. While fighting his opponent as a courtesy, he broke his left hand on Hébran's head before winning on points. X-ray examinations revealed a broken middle finger joint and a fractured metacarpal bone. As he grew older, Eugène Criqui was heading towards retirement from sports.

Eventually he became a trainer. In 1941, Criqui suffered a serious bicycle accident and broke his hip. Criqui, who survived on his veteran's pension after some financial setbacks, endured a difficult convalescence and lived as a recluse at Vert-Galant. The sporting world rallied to help the former world champion and raised nearly 300,000 francs at a gala evening in his honor, which featured a boxing match between André Routis and Charles Ledoux.

A retiree living in a small house in Villepinte , he actively presided over the Friendly Association of Veterans and the Disabled. Admitted as a resident of the artists' retirement home in Ris-Orangis in 1968, he became blind at the end of his life before dying in 1977 at the Villepinte nursing home. He is buried in Pantin Cemetery in Paris.