By Dave Lahr: Unbeaten heavyweight contender Odlanier Solis (15-0, 11 KO’s) only needed two short rounds to take care of former heavyweight contender now turned journeyman Monte Barrett (34-8, 20 KO’s) on Saturday night at the Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York. Solis, 29, a 2004 Olympic heavyweight Gold Medalist from Cuba, dropped the 38-year-old Barrett twice in the 2nd round.

After the second knockdown, a sweeping right hand followed by left uppercut that put Barrett down in the corner, the bout was stopped at 1:54 of the 2nd round by referee Wayne Kelly. Solis came into the fight at a career high of 271, and clearly looked to be at least 20 to 30 pounds overweight. However, even through Solis was badly overweight for him, his hand speed, timing and power was all he needed to take out the over-matched Barrett.

In beating Barrett in two quick rounds, Solis improved on the job that David Haye had done against Barrett. It took the British heavyweight five rounds to finish Barrett off and Haye looked cautious the entire and took shots. Solis, on the other hand, had little problems with Barrett and never looked worried in the least by his shots.

In the 1st round, Solis stalked Barrett around the ring, throwing right hands to the head and body. Solis looked really skilled, but with all that fat on his body, it had a slowing effect on his ability to move and throw quick shots. His stomach area had several rolls of fat and it appeared that he’s been eating well for the past few months. He didn’t nearly this fat in his last against Dominique Alexander in June.

In that fight, Solis weighted 262, which was grossly fat for Solis. However, it seems incredible that he gained additional weight since that fight. Barrett, 218, looked positively skinny next to Solis and moved around the ring throwing jabs. Barrett did well in the round with his jabs. However, Solis kept nailing him with sweeping right hooks to the head and body. and looked like a mini bull as he chased Barrett around the ring.

In the 2nd round, Solis increased the speed as he went after Barrett looking like he meant to end things early. Barrett landed a right hand. However, Solis fired back a right hand that landed to the back of Barrett’s head. Barrett then landed a right hand in response. However, a split second after throwing the right, Barrett was countered by a short left hook from Solis that sent Barrett down on the canvas.

He got up looking hurt but continued to fight. Solis, smelling blood, went after Barrett tagging him with single right hands to the head and lefts to the body. It was all one-way traffic as Barrett was covering up trying to block the heavy shots that Solis was raining on him. Barrett then made the mistake of retreating to the corner. Solis followed after him and landed a volley of shots to the head, pushing Barrett back into the corner when he tried to escape.

Finally, with Barrett trying to duck the many shots being thrown at him, Solis landed a right hook and then a left uppercut that sent Barrett down for the second and final time in the round. The bout was then stopped by referee Wayne Kelly. In winning the fight, Solis retained his World Boxing Council International heavyweight title

Solis may be the third best heavyweight in the division at this point. If unbeaten heavyweight Kevin Johnson had been in with Solis, I doubt he would have done much better than Barrett because Solis’s speed, power and counter punching ability would have given Johnson fits. The same goes for Chris Arreola. Solis would have too much speed for Arreola to contend with and it wouldn’t even be close. As for David Haye, Solis could once again stop Haye just like he did in the amateur ranks.

However, Solis would have problems against the Klitschko brothers because of their size and power. Unless Solis came in at a reasonable weight, he’d get blown out by both of them. I still think he would be beaten badly even if he came in at 235 to 240, which is what he should be fighting at, because he wouldn’t have the reach and height to contend with them.

But Solis looks much better than Haye, Ruslan Chagaev, Nikolay Valuev, Kevin Johnson, Denis Boytsov and Alexander Dimitrenko. Solis is the real deal. But he needs to lose some weight because it ridiculous for him to come in for the Barrett fight weighing 271. That’s way too high for him to be fighting at without slowing him down and making him vulnerable.