By Dave Lahr: Unbeaten former 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Odlanier Solis (17-0, 12 KO’s) is really serious his March 19th title challenge against WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (41-2, 38 KO’s) at the Lanxess-Arena, in Cologne, Germany. Solis, who came into his last fight in December weighing a fat looking 260 pounds, is currently training in the snow-covered mountains in Germany and is putting in 2 1/2 hours of roadwork each day to lose some of the fat that’s collected on his once lean 200 pound frame.

If Solis keeps this up, he should be near his Olympic rate by the time he enters the ring against the 39-year-old Vitali on 3/19. That’s bad news for Vitali, because Solis is much faster and has a lot better boxing skills compared to the painfully slow Vitali. Solis’ speed is going to win him this fight against Vitali, provided that Solis can take off enough weight to fight Vitali. Right now, Solis is still sporting a pot belly but that should be all but gone by the time he enters the ring against the older Klitschko brother.

We could be seeing a new heavyweight champion on March 19th. Vitali didn’t look good in his last fight against Shannon Briggs. Vitali’s hand speed, never good to begin with, was even slower than normal and his power was totally nonexistent. One of the problems Vitali has is that he’s become an arm puncher since coming back in 2008 from a four-year retirement. Vitali has done this out of necessity because he’s lost so much hand speed and his stamina is bad. He can’t throw power shots anymore without getting tagged while he’s throwing his shots because of how long it takes for them to get there.