By Bill Patrice Jones: In just four days time undefeated Cuban heavyweight Odlanier Solis will climb through the ropes at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne Germany. He will enter the neon blazed ring as the sixth challenger for Vitali Klitschko’s WBC title. Thus far the Ukrainian world champion has lost virtually no rounds during his comeback. He has successfully demolished all who have come before him, most of the time with seemingly consummate ease.
There is a general feeling among fans and commentators alike that Solis will pose little, if any, resistance, pick up his generous loser’s cheque and go through the motions until he feels he can take no more punishment. For all the hype surrounding Wladimir Klitschko’s upcoming defence against David Haye, there has been little if any hype surrounding Odlanier Solis. Why has this been the case? Well one glaringly obvious reason may be a loss of hope among fans for competitive heavyweight fights. They have already seen a heavily hyped reigning champion in Samuel Peter tamely surrender to the superior technical prowess of Vitali in 2008, and quite frankly they haven’t seen any other opponent put up much of a fight since. In spite of this is the boxing world overlooking something in Solis? Does he actually pose a legitimate threat to Vitali Klitschko’s crown?
The detractors will point to a number of factors which may clearly indicate that this fight will be one sided in Vitali’s favour. First of all we must address the current condition, and recent performances of the reigning WBC champion. Vitali Klitschko was forced out of boxing in 2004 solely because of his debilitating injury record, and seeming inability to make it safely through a training camp for a scheduled defence against Hasim Rahman. At the time no one doubted Vitali was by far not only the best fighter in the division, but a serious force to be reckoned with. Despite each governing body having their own recognised champion, at the time of his retirement Vitali Klitschko was universally recognised as the lineal ruler, a feat no heavyweight has achieved since. (Though in fairness Wladimir surely deserves that distinction now) People might be well served to contemplate just what an incredible record Vitali would have were it not for the freak injury he suffered against Chris Byrd in 2000, and the cuts he endured against Lennox Lewis in 2003. Fans will forever argue back and forth over the Lewis fight, it has already become one of the enduring questions in heavyweight folklore. Despite the fact that Vitali has those two losses on his record his numbers are still astounding. 41 victories in 43 contests with 38 Kos, and the highest knockout percentage of any heavyweight champion in history. When Vitali came back in 2008 many expected a tough fight against 28 year old Samuel Peter. Instead the apparently ageless warrior looked better than ever. He moved around the ring gracefully, exhibited great hand speed and accuracy from the first bell, and totally outclassed his 10 years younger opponent. Vitali’s exceptional mental toughness and awkward style have made him a nightmare opponent for all that have come since. He goads his often brazen opponents by contemptuously holding his hands low, luring them in, and then slingshoting hard fast punches from a variety of angles. His fans will point to his recent annihilation of Shannon Briggs as proof that Vitali is still at the peak of his powers.
This perception of Vitali has many detractors however. There are those who are not so much impressed by his recent dominance as they are disgusted at the lack of credible challengers. Sure he won every round against Shannon Briggs, but Briggs was old and shot and he still couldn’t knock him out. Are Albert Sosnowski and Kevin Johnson worthy title contenders? Furthermore can we take glaringly overweight fighters like Chris Arreola seriously? These fans believe Vitali Klitschko is quite far removed from the version of him they saw compete against Lennox Lewis in 2003. Vitali is a deteriorating fighter they tell us; we just haven’t seen him matched with an opponent good enough to demonstrate it. Will Solis be that opponent?
Odlanier Solis for all intents and purposes should be seen as a legitimate threat to Vitali Klitschko. He is young, undefeated, and skilful. Moreover he is yet to have suffered any damaging losses or endured any punishing fights. If all of the above is true then why have so many disregarded his chances? The salient factor in this negative perception of Solis is his weight. Many see a once vaunted amateur with huge potential totally waste his talent by moving up to a weight range of 260-270 pounds. Even though Solis always appears solid and powerful, few could argue that he probably needs to be lighter in order to implement a successful game plan against Vitali. The detractors also point to Solis’s recent contests as evidence he will be nothing short of target practice for Klitschko. While Solis may not have looked spectacular against; Monte Barrett, Carl Davis Drummond or Ray Austin, those fights have all shown some encouraging signs. If Solis has a chance against Vitali it is because of his vast experience, and relatively effective high guard. He may give the impression that he is plodding forward in the same one dimensional fashion as Chris Arreola or Samuel Peter, but if one watches closely they see that he is in fact far harder to tag clean. Even in fights which went past ten rounds Solis has never ended a contest looking particularly beaten up. His high guard may be the key to walking down Vitali with more purpose than those who have gone before him. If, and it’s a very big IF, Solis can cut off the ring without being constantly tagged with the ever present Klitschko jab then he may have a chance. Most of Vitali’s opponents have been hit clean so many times after a few rounds that they realistically stood no chance of staging a comeback. This has meant that even though Vitali’s body may be slowing down, no one has been able to exploit it. Solis also throws quite fast short punches when he is in range. He’s not prone to lunging wildly in the hope of scoring a quick knockout.
An official prediction for Solis Klitschko is pretty much untenable until we see what sort of condition Solis will be in at the weigh in. In this author’s view Vitali Klitschko ranks very high historically on the list of great heavyweight champions. Yet at the same time it might be safe to assume that he is no longer in his prime. If David Haye is not the one to test Vitali’s body, then realistically Solis and Tomasz Adamek are the only other viable threats. If La Sombra has neglected his training then Vitali will appear at once as an assignment well beyond the realm of his powers. However we must remember this is a mandatory and not voluntary defence. If he comes to fight somewhere below 250 pounds then he will pose the hardest challenge to Vitali since his comeback.