Odlanier Solís

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Solís and the second or maternal family name is Fonte.

Odlanier Solís Fonte
Statistics
Real name	Odlanier Solís Fonte
Nickname(s)	La Sombra
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Reach	79 in (201 cm)
Nationality	Cuban
Born	April 5, 1980 (1980-04-05) (age 31) Havana, Cuba
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	18
Wins	17
Wins by KO	12
Losses	1
Draws	0
No contests	0

Medal record
Competitor for  Cuba
Men’s boxing
Olympic Games
Gold	2004 Athens	Heavyweight
World Amateur Championships
Gold	2001 Belfast	Heavyweight
Gold	2003 Bangkok	Heavyweight
Gold	2005 Mianyang	Super Heavyweight
Pan American Games
Gold	1999 Winnipeg	Heavyweight
Gold	2003 Santo Domingo	Heavyweight
World Cup
Silver	2005 Moscow	Super Heavyweight

Odlanier Solís Fonte (born April 5, 1980 in Havana) is a Cuban professional boxer. He won the Olympic Gold medal in Athens 2004 and was a three time winner at the World Amateur Boxing Championships.

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.^[1]

His record was 227 victories, 14 losses. He never lost at a major event (world championships, Olympics) and beat fellow Cuban Félix Savón in two of their three fights.

Solis should have been the Cuban representative to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, because he beat Felix Savon at the Olympic Trials. However, Savon was sent to the Olympics instead, and went on to win heavyweight gold. Because of this, many believe Solis should have won the 2000 Sydney Olympics gold medal.

World Championships

Solís became world champion in 2001 in Belfast and in 2003 in Bangkok at heavyweight (201 lbs/91 kg limit), 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 and won the fight by stoppage in the third round.

In 2003 he won on points in the final against Russian archrival Alexander Alekseev who would win the next world championship. Also, Solis defeated Sultan Ibragimov once more (13-7) in four rounds in the XXXIII Chemistry Cup in Halle, Germany on March 10, 2002.

Olympic Games

He did not participate in the Olympic Games in Sydney; it is thought that Cuba wanted to allow hero Félix Savón to win his third consecutive Olympic gold, thereby equalizing the record of László Papp and Teófilo Stevenson. In the Olympic Games 2004 in Athens Solís won the heavyweight gold medal at 201 lbs.

Amateur Hightlights

Olympic Games

• 1 ! 2004 in Athens, Greece (Heavyweight)
  • Defeated Alexander Alexeev (Russia) 24–21
  • Defeated Wilmer Vasquez (Venezuela) 24–4
  • Defeated Naser Al Shami (Syria) RSC–3 (1:29)
  • Defeated Viktar Zuyev (Belarus) 22–13

World Cup

• 2 ! 2005 in Moscow, Russia (Heavyweight)
  • Defeated Ilgar Mamedov (Azerbaijan) RSC–2
  • Defeated Georgel Gavril (Romania) RSC–3
  • Defeated Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov (Kazakhstan) 27–20
  • Lost to Islam Timurziev (Russia) 26–27

Pan American Games

• 1 ! 1999 in Winnipeg, Canada (Heavyweight)
  • Defeated Angus Lewis (Virgin Island) walk-over
  • Defeated Livin Castillo (Ecuador) 14–2
  • Defeated Marcelino Novaes (Brazil) 13–2
  • Defeated Mark Simmons (Canada) 4–2

• 1 ! 2003 in Winnipeg, Canada (Heavyweight)
  • Defeated Gerardo Bisbal (Puerto Rico) RSCH-2
  • Defeated Jason Douglas (Canada) 16–2
  • Defeated Kertson Manswell (Trinidad & Tobago) 15–3

World Junior Championships

• 1 ! 1998 in Buenos Aires, Argentina (Heavyweight)
  • Defeated Steffen Kretschmann (Germany) 8–1
  • Defeated Evgeniy Arkhipov (Russia) 8–2
  • Defeated Sebastian Ceballos (Argentina) 7–5

Others

• Three times World Senior Champion (2001, 2003, 2005)
• Six time Cuban National Champion (1999–2004)
• Chemiepokal - 2002, 2003, 2004
• Central American and Caribbean Championships - 1999
• Pan American Boxing Championships - 2005

Notable defeated fighters

• Cubans: Felix Savón (2 wins, 1 loss), Robert Alfonso 3 wins, Michel López Núñez (3 wins, 3 losses), Osmay Acosta (RSC), Yoan Pablo Hernández(2 wins) TKO & 10-1.
• Non-Cubans: Islam Timurziev (1 win, 1 loss), Roman Romanchuk (1 win, 2 losses), Vyacheslav Glazkov (1 win), Kubrat Pulev (2 wins, 1 loss), Sultan Ibragimov (2 wins)

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

Heavyweight

Solís made his professional debut on April 27, 2007, weighing in at a much higher weight at 250+ lbs than as an amateur (where he weighed at around 210 lbs) but knocked out 32-7 veteran Andreas Sidon 47 seconds into the first round. In the next 18 months he racked up a 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.

In his most recent fight, he weighed 260 pounds.

Monte 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.

Carl Drumond

On March 20, 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.

Vitali Klitschko

Main article: Vitali Klitschko vs. Odlanier Solis

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.^[2][3] 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 connected a left hook to Klitschko's chin. Vitali Klitschko returned the favor by firing a short right to Solis's left temple. What followed has been heavily debated by fans and pundits. Some claim, as he was already falling to the ground, Solis injured his right knee while making an effort to prevent himself from hitting the ground. While others maintain that he simply injured his knee, while backpedalling, and was unable to continue.

Professional boxing record

17 Wins (12 knockouts, 5 decisions), 1 Loss (1 knockout, 0 decisions), 0 Draws [1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	17–1	Vitali Klitschko	KO	1 (12)	19/03/2011	Lanxess-Arena, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany	For WBC Heavyweight title. Solis had a knee injury.
Win	17–0	Ray Austin	DQ	10 (12)	17/12/2010	American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida, United States	WBC Heavyweight title eliminator. Austin down once in the 5th and deducted a point in the 10th round. Austin was disqualified at the end of round 10, after what appeared to be a bizarre tackle or attempt to push Solis over the top rope. As referee Tommy Kimmons separated the two after the bell, Austin threw a punch.
Win	16–0	Carl Davis Drumond	RTD	3 (10)	20/03/2010	Mallory Square, Key West, Florida, United States	Retained WBC International & WBA Fedelatin Heavyweight titles.
Win	15–0	Monte Barrett	TKO	2 (10)	10/10/2009	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States	Retained WBC International Heavyweight title.
Win	14–0	Dominique Alexander	TKO	1 (8)	12/06/2009	Miccosukee Indian Gaming Resort, Miami, Florida, United States	Alexander down twice.
Win	13–0	Kevin Burnett	TKO	8 (10)	09/01/2009	Buffalo Bill's Star Arena, Primm, Nevada, United States	Retained WBC International Heavyweight title & won vacant WBA Fedelatin Heavyweight title.
Win	12–0	Chauncy Welliver	TKO	9 (12)	11/10/2008	O2 World Arena, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany	Won vacant WBC International Heavyweight title.
Win	11–0	Chad Van Sickle	TKO	1 (8)	12/09/2008	Kugelbake Halle, Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen, Germany
Win	10–0	Harry Duiven Jr	UD	8	07/06/2008	Karl Eckel Halle, Hattersheim am Main, Hessen, Germany
Win	9–0	Mamuka Jikurashvili	KO	2 (8)	26/04/2008	Spor Salonu, Trabzon, Turkey
Win	8–0	Cisse Salif	UD	8	14/03/2008	Zenith - Die Kulturhalle, Munich, Bayern, Germany
Win	7–0	Adrian Rajkai	KO	3 (8)	29/02/2008	PalaLido, Milan, Lombardia, Italy	Rajkai down once in round 2 and twice in round 3.
Win	6–0	Julius Long	UD	8	23/12/2007	Maritim Hotel, Halle an der Saale, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany	Won vacant WBC Latino Heavyweight title.
Win	5–0	Jeremy Bates	TKO	2 (8)	19/10/2007	Estrel Convention Center, Neukoelln, Berlin, Germany
Win	4–0	Marcus McGee	KO	2 (6)	21/09/2007	Hansehalle, Luebeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Win	3–0	Aldo Colliander	UD	4	06/07/2007	Arena Gym, Hamburg, Germany
Win	2–0	Aleksey Masikin	KO	1 (4)	06/07/2007	Ataturk Sport Salonu, Ankara, Turkey
Win	1–0	Andreas Sidon	KO	1 (4)	27/04/2007	Arena Gym, Hamburg, Germany

See also

• List of current WBC international champions

References

1. ^ http://rusboxing.ru/news.php?readmore=223
2. ^ Don King announces schedule 27 October 2010
3. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ap-solis-austin

External links

• Official website
• Professional boxing record for Odlanier Solís from BoxRec
• Amateur record (Spanish)
• BoxingInsider Bio - file interview with Odlanier Solis

Persondata
Name	Solis, Odlanier
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 5, 1980
Place of birth	Havana, Cuba
Date of death
Place of death