By John F. McKenna (McJack): It is difficult to understand why a heavyweight fighter and contender for the richest and most prestigious prize in all of sports could allow himself to get so far out of condition. At 6’1″ and 260 lbs, Odlanier Solis is obviously way overweight as he demonstrated in his recent victory over Ray Austin. Vitali Klitschko, who takes his craft seriously and is always in shape, will be able to concentrate on perfecting his technique while he is training for the March 19 title fight. “Lasombra” on the other hand will find it difficult to get into fighting trim.

Solis had an extensive and impressive record as an amateur, winning the Olympic Gold Medal at Heavyweight in Athens in 2004. He was also the Gold Medalist at Super Heavyweight at the World Amateur Boxing Championships in Mianyang, People’s Republic of China in 2005. In 2001 he defeated Sultan Ibragimov and David Haye on his way to winning the Gold Medal at Heavyweight at the World Boxing Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As stated above, Solis has an impressive resume at amateur, which makes it that much more difficult to understand him piling all the weight on. As a pro Odlanier is 17 – 0 with 12 KO’s for a 71% KO percentage.

I feel that “Lasombra” is deluding himself much as Chris Arreola did in his September 26, 2009 title shot. Recently Solis became defensive when questioned about his weight.

Stating he can does more sit ups than anyone. The old adage that you can’t fix what you don’t acknowledge is appropriate here, much as it was when Arreola kept insisting that he was in shape while the rolls of fat jiggled around his middle when he stepped into the ring with Vitali Klitschko.

Fighting Vitali Klitschko takes it up to a much higher lever. The ease with which Kltischko disposes of his opponents makes it appear that he is facing inferior opposition. The fact is that Klitschko is a totally dominant figthter and is way under estimated by fans and writers alike. Solis is going to have the same problem all his other opponents have had. How do you get inside on Vitali Klitschko without getting your head bashed in? I find some comments amusing that refer to Vitali as not really being that good of a puncher. Easy to say when you are hiding behind your computer. Ask Briggs, Sosnowski, Arreola and Gomez what kind of puncher Vitali is. People forget that Vitali has the highest KO percentage of any heavyweight champion in history at 90%. Every fighter who faces Klitschko has a plan which they say is going to shock the world. To quote the great Joe Louis: “Everybody has a plan until they get hit!”

For a fighter the window of opportunity is often quite short. To get a shot at a title, any title, but in particular the heavyweight title is a gift. What the fighter does with that gift is up to him.