Odlanier Solís


Odlanier Solís Fonte is a Cuban professional boxer. He has challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2011, and is a former top-rated contender in that division. As an amateur heavyweight, Solis was one of the most celebrated and decorated amateur stars of the 2000s, winning a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, and three consecutive golds at the World Championships in 2001, 2003, and 2005.

Amateur career

His first international success was in 1998, winning the title at the Pan American Juniors championship in Toluca and the Juniors World championship in Buenos Aires.
In 1999 he won the Cuban championship beating Félix Savón. Until 2004 he defended his title five times consecutively.
In 2005 he switched from heavyweight to super heavyweight and lost in the finale to Michel López Núñez. In 2006 he won the title again for a seventh time.
He was part of the Cuban team that won the 2006 Boxing World Cup.
His record was 227 victories, 14 losses. He never lost at a major event and beat fellow Cuban Félix Savón in two of their three fights. One of those fights was in the Cuban Olympic boxing trial finals in 2000, and the win normally would have allowed Solis to fight in Sydney. Savon, however, was the two-time defending Olympic champion and a gold medal would have equaled the record that László Papp of Hungary and countryman Teófilo Stevenson set with three consecutive boxing gold medals. Thus, Savon was given the spot over Solis, who did not participate in the Olympics at all.

World Championships

Solís became world champion in 2001 in Belfast and in 2003 in Bangkok at heavyweight, in 2005 in Mianyang at super heavyweight.
In 2001 he beat Russian Olympic silver medalist of 2000 Sultan Ibragimov in the semifinals on points and in the final British David Haye by TKO. Haye gave Solis a standing eight count in the first round and was up by 7 points, but Solis came back strong, turned the score around in the second round and won the fight by stoppage in the third. At the time of stoppage, score was 31–17 in favour of Solis.
In 2003 he won on points in the final against Russian archrival Aleksandr Alekseyev who would win the next world championship. Also, Solis defeated Sultan Ibragimov once more in four rounds in the XXXIII Chemistry Cup in Halle, Germany, on March 10, 2002.

Olympic Games

Solis earned a spot on the Cuban Olympic boxing team for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and succeeded the three-time champion Savon as the heavyweight gold medalist.

Amateur highlights

Olympic Games

Solís finished his amateur career with a record of 227 wins, 14 losses.

Defection

He defected from the national Cuban boxing team in December 2006, during training in Venezuela for the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro. With him, came two fellow amateurs and reigning Olympic champions, Yan Barthelemí Varela and Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano. After escaping to Colombia, they arrived in Miami. Solís, who plans to reside in Germany, signed a professional promotional contract with German-based First Artist.

Professional career

Solís made his professional debut on 27 April 2007, weighing in at a much higher weight at 250+ lbs than as an amateur but knocked out 32–7 veteran Andreas Sidon 47 seconds into the first round. In the next 18 months he racked up an 11–0 record against creditable opposition at this stage of a professional career, and in October 2008 he defeated Chauncy Welliver for the WBC international heavyweight title.

Solís vs. Barrett

Solis fighting out of Miami, Florida, made his third successful defense of the WBC International Heavyweight title with a second round stoppage of Monte Barrett of Queens, New York. Solis, now 15–0 with 11 KOs, a Cuban defector with an extensive amateur career, fought a very cautious first as a careful counterpuncher, preferring to feel out the experienced Barrett, age 38, 34–8, 20 KOs, to see if he had anything left. In the second, Solis opened up with a long left to Barrett's chin that decked him. Barrett just beat the count. In the barrage from Solis that followed, Barrett went down from a slip under pressure, got up, then got knocked out.

Solís vs. Drumond

On 20 March 2010, Solis fought and defeated Carl Davis Drumond by fourth-round TKO to retain his WBC International Heavyweight title and to win the WBA Fedelatin Heavyweight title. After toying with Drumond for the first three rounds Solis unleashed a barrage of punches during the last 20 second of round three and would have knocked Drumond down had he not been saved by the ropes, making Drumond not want to come out for the fourth round.

Solís vs. Vitali Klitschko

Solis defeated Ray Austin in a WBC title eliminator when Austin was disqualified in the 10th round. Solis connected with combinations to the head in the 10th, with Austin seemingly out on his feet and repeatedly holding Solis to avoid additional shots. The win set up Solis to fight Vitali Klitschko, becoming the mandatory challenger. On 11 January, it was official confirmed that the fight between Vitali Klitschko and Solís was going to take place in Cologne, Germany, on 19 March 2011. Both fighters promised a victory by knockout.
On 19 March 2011, the two boxers took to the ring in front of a sell-out crowd of over 19,000. In the first round of the fight, after the ten-second warning bell rang, Solis threw a left and right which didn't connect, to Klitschko's chin. Vitali Klitschko returned the favor with a short right to Solis's left temple. What followed has been extensively debated by fans and pundits. Some claim that as he was already falling to the ground, Solis injured his right knee while making an effort to prevent himself from hitting the ground. Others maintain that he simply injured his knee, while backpedalling, and was unable to continue. Some believe he was injured prior to the bout but didn't disclose it for fear of not getting paid. The slow motion shows that he was momentarily stunned by the almost grazing temple punch, and his foot froze to the canvas, whilst his leg and body continued backwards, causing an injury to his ankle. He was not able to continue and the fight was ruled a 1st rd KO.

Post Klitschko comeback

Solis launched a comeback following his rehabilitation from knee surgery and scored four consecutive victories over the next three years including points wins over Konstantin Airich and undefeated prospect Leif Larsen. Problematically though it seemed Solis had lost a certain amount of his punching power and foot speed.

Consecutive losses and decline

In 2015 Solis lost two consecutive bouts to former world title challenger, veteran, Tony Thompson. The first was by a close split decision and the second by TKO as Solis retired in his corner for reasons unknown midway through the bout. Since his losses to Thompson Solis has won two bouts against low level opposition. His current ranking according to boxrec is 42 in the world and there has been no speculation regarding a substantive ring return.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
25Win22–3 Aleksandar Todorovic817 Sep 2016 Göppingen, Germany
24Win21–3 Milos DovedanKO2, 1:534 Aug 2016 ECB Boxgym, Hamburg, Germany
23Loss20–3 Tony ThompsonRTD8, 3:0027 Feb 2015 Gloria Sports Arena, Antalya, TurkeyFor vacant WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title
22Loss20–2 Tony Thompson1222 Mar 2014 Atatürk Spor Salonu, Tekirdağ, TurkeyFor vacant WBC International heavyweight title
21Win20–1 Yakup SaglamTKO7, 2:3027 Jul 2013 Kugelbake-Halle, Cuxhaven, GermanyRetained IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title
20Win19–1 Leif LarsenUD1222 Mar 2013 Universal Hall, Berlin, GermanyRetained IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title
19Win18–1 Konstantin AirichUD1219 May 2012 Events Center, Pharr, Texas, U.S.Won IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight title
18Loss17–1 Vitali KlitschkoKO1, 2:5919 Mar 2011 Lanxess Arena, Cologne, GermanyFor WBC heavyweight title
17Win17–0 Ray Austin10, 2:5917 Dec 2010 American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida, U.S.Austin disqualified for punching after the bell
16Win16–0 Carl Davis Drumond3, 3:0020 Mar 2010 Mallory Square, Key West, Florida, U.S.Retained WBA Fedelatin and WBC International and heavyweight titles
15Win15–0 Monte BarrettTKO2, 1:5410 Oct 2009 The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.Retained WBC International heavyweight title
14Win14–0 Dominique AlexanderTKO1, 2:5512 Jun 2009 Miccosukee Resort & Gaming, Miami, Florida, U.S.
13Win13–0 Kevin BurnettTKO8, 2:009 Jan 2009 Star of the Desert Arena, Primm, Nevada, U.S.Retained WBC International heavyweight title;
Won vacant WBA Fedelatin heavyweight title
12Win12–0 Chauncy WelliverTKO9, 1:2311 Oct 2008 O2 World Arena, Berlin, GermanyWon vacant WBC International heavyweight title
11Win11–0 Chad Van SickleTKO1, 1:3212 Sep 2008 Kugelbake-Halle, Cuxhaven, Germany
10Win10–0 Harry Duiven Jr.UD87 Jun 2008 Karl-Eckel-Weg Halle, Hattersheim am Main, Germany
9Win9–0 Mamuka JikurashviliKO2, 1:3426 Apr 2008 Spor Salonu, Trabzon, Turkey
8Win8–0 Cisse SalifUD814 Mar 2008 Zenith, Munich, Germany
7Win7–0 Adrian RajkaiKO3 29 Feb 2008 PalaLido, Milan, Italy
6Win6–0 Julius LongUD823 Dec 2007 Maritim Hotel, Halle, GermanyWon vacant WBC Latino heavyweight title
5Win5–0 Jeremy Bates2, 0:1819 Oct 2007 Estrel Hotel, Berlin, Germany
4Win4–0 Marcus McGeeKO2, 2:1421 Sep 2007 Hansehalle, Lübeck, Germany
3Win3–0 Aldo Colliander46 Jul 2007 Arena Gym, Hamburg, Germany
2Win2–0 Oleksiy MazikinKO1, 0:4316 Jun 2007 Atatürk Sport Hall, Ankara, Turkey
1Win1–0 Andreas Sidon1, 0:4727 Apr 2007 Arena Gym, Hamburg, GermanyProfessional debut