ARENA-CEO Ahmet Öner followed the world heayvweight championship between Vitali Klitschko and Shannon Briggs this Saturday in Miami where he is currently preparing a big show with Don King for December 17th at the American Airlines Arena.
“It is a shame that nobody in the USA cares for heavyweight boxing anymore but after seeing this fight I cannot blame anybody for disinterest”, states Öner who watched the fight online. “Shannon Briggs didn’t stand a chance against Lennox Lewis 12 years ago when he was still young and in shape. How could anybody assume he would be a worthy challenger for Vitali Klitschko? You cannot even call this one-sided execution a “fight”. Shows like this are bad for boxing – even though 14 million Germans watched it live. It’s a pity that those 14 million don’t get to see real boxing but have to witness a guy thrashing another guy who is not close to qualified for a champioship bout.”
“I am happy for Shannon Briggs that Vitali obviously lost his punching power over the years and couldn’t seriously hurt him. I mean, everybody knows that the so-called “Dr. Ironfist” has never been a one-punch-knockouter. He rather outworked his opponents and forced them to quit after lots of hard shots. Still it’s a little bit ironic that the “fight” turned out this way after they made a lot of fuzz about Vitali having the “best k.o. statistics in the history of heavyweight boxing”. It really says something that after all those terrible shots Briggs’ worst injury was a torn biceps. It looks like Vitali got really old.”
Next in line to take a shot at the WBC champion will most probably be Öner’s Cuban superstar Odlanier Solis who takes on Ray Austin in a final elimination bout on December 17th. The four-time world amateur champion and 2004 Olympic gold medallist beat legendary Felix Savon and reigning WBA champion David Haye at the amateurs amongst a lot of other world class opponents. If Solis manages to beat Austin – which most experts are pretty sure he will – his next stop on the road to stardom will be a clash with Vitali Klitschko.
“Nobody can tell how a fight between Solis and Vitali would end”, says Öner. “But I can promise one thing: Solis will certainly not get pounded like Briggs without even throwing a punch after round four. I understand that Briggs was seriously injured and couldn’t use his arm properly. Still it seems he didn’t even try to put pressure on Vitali but rather tried to set a new record for taking the most shots from a Klitschko brother without getting knocked down. With Solis it will be a totally different story. Everybody who has followed his career so far knows that he always goes forward and attacks his opponent. With his extraordinary speed, technique and his solid punching power he will cause serious trouble for Klitschko. The main problem in the heavyweight scene is that the Klitschkos haven’t faced a worthy challenger in years. Odlanier Solis will solve this problem and finally end the Klit’s reign. It’s time for a change.”