By Allan Fox: IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight champion Odlanier Solis (19-1, 12 KO’s) came out on top on Friday night in defeating the 6’4”, 275 pound Leif Larsen (17-1, 14 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Universal Hall, in Berlin, Germany. Although Solis won the fight by the scores of 116-112, 115-114 and 117-111, he came away from the fight with a lot of respect for the power and the chin of the 37-year-old Larsen.
Solis said afterwards “He hit me with some of the hardest hands that ever hit me.”
Solis’ face showed the effects of Larsen’s hard punches after the fight with right eye swollen up. Solis did a good job of getting out of the way of most of Larsen’s big shots in the first 8 rounds of the fight, but he tired out and had to stand trade with the hard hitting Larsen in the last four rounds. That’s when Solis began to take a lot of hard right hands and left hooks.
Larsen looked clumsy and slow on his feet, but he had so much weight and power behind his shots that it was difficult for Solis. Larsen reminded me a lot of George Foreman when he came back in his 40s. Foreman was still a much bigger puncher than Larsen, but that’s who Larsen resembles with his speed, heavy hands and fighting style. Like a weaker version of Foreman.
After the 10th round ended, it looked like Solis was confused because he congratulated Larsen and his corner as if the fight was over. He then talked to the crowd like the fight was over, and he had to be told that he still had two rounds to go.
I bet Solis wished the fight was over at that point because he took an awful lot of punishment in the last two rounds of the fight from Larsen. Solis looked like a cruiserweight with a heavyweight, and his punches had no effect at all on Larsen, but you could see how Larsen’s shots moved Solis when he landed solidly.
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