By Dave Lahr: 39-year-old WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (41-2, 38 KO’s) will be turning a ripe old 40 in July, and he’s already talking about ending his career in a couple of fights under the best case scenario. But Klitschko is also hinting that he’ll wrap up his career should he lose his next fight against Cuban Odlanier Solis (17-0, 12 KO’s) in their upcoming March 19thy fight in Cologne, Germany.
This is a bout that Vitali has a very real chance of losing because Solis is by far the best opponent that Vitali has faced since being battered and torn apart by Lennox Lewis in 2003. Solis, 30, has the power and the speed to make mincemeat of Vitali’s face just as Lewis did eight long years ago. A loss for Vitali at this stage in his career would be fatal and he will likely hang up the old gloves rather than risk further embarrassment in trying to avenge his loss.
It happens. A fighter like Vitali gets old, gets soft from facing terrible opposition, and then gets taken down by a young lion with teeth. Vitali has had things easy since making his comeback in 2008, beating easy guys like Alberto Sosnowski, Juan Carlos Gomez, Shannon Briggs, Chris Arreola and Samuel Peter. Solis is a whole different type of fighter. He’s the best in the division right now, and a lot better than the other top heavyweights like David Haye and Alexander Povetkin. Vitali must realize that too because he wasn’t eager to this dangerous fight. Heck, Vitali practically had to be pushed into the fight.
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