By Dave Lahr: WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko attempted to explain his controversial knockout win over Odlanier Solis in a facebook statement today. This is what Vitali had to say:

“I feel I hit him very hard. Solis was knocked out. What happened after that. He breaks his ligaments or knee. It’s his problem. I’m sorry the fight was so short. I promise the next fight, I won’t touch my opponent for the first three rounds, and after that, I’ll knock him out. But with fight with Solis, no excuses. He was knocked out by punch – right half uppercut, hook. Solis’ feels bad. After that it’s everything excuses from his side.”

I’ve seen the fight at least six times since Saturday and I must say that Solis didn’t look a bit hurt from the right hand that Vitali hit him with. It was a weak right hand thrown defensively while Vitali backing up in retreat. There was no power in the punch and it was a glancing blow. Solis didn’t stagger or show any signs of being hurt after being hit with it. What happened was that his right knee twisted while he was backing up. It was that bad step that hurt Solis, not Vitali’s right hand. It’s disappointing to see Vitali taking credit for having hurt Solis when it’s pretty clear from the video that Vitali’s punch had no power on it. Solis was actually the one throwing the harder punches in the fight and dominating the round at the point of the injury. Hopefully, Vitali does the right thing and give him Solis a rematch because it would clear up a lot of the mess and make his fans happy.

Vitali looked timid as Solis was attacking. The punch that Vitali landed was more like a jab than an actual punch. No way was Solis hurt by that weak shot. Instead of trying to make excuses to his angry fans, Vitali needs to be talking rematch with Solis. That is the only way to quiet his critics.