(Photo: ARENA) By Dan Ambrose: Former 2004 Olympic heavyweight Gold Medalist Odlanier Solis (17-1, 12 KO’s) will be in action tonight against Russia’s Konstantin Airich (23-5-2, 17 KO’s) in a scheduled 12 round bout for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental heavyweight crown at the Convention Center in Pharr, Texas.

Solis should win this fight unless he gets hit with one of Airich’s big right hands, causing Solis’ recent surgically repaired right knee to collapse on him again like it did in his 1st round knockout loss to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko last year in March 2011. However, Solis has got got to make a strong effort to lose a ton of weight if he doesn’t want his heavyweight career to end prematurely. He’s great hand speed and boxing skills, but he’s just way too heavy for his 6’1″ frame to carry around.

During Friday’s weigh-in, Solis scaled in at 267.5, the third highest weight of his career. It’s just way too much weight for his knees to be carrying around. In 2004, Solis fought at 200 pounds in the amateurs, but since leaving Cuba to fight in the United States, Solis has really packed on the tonnage in a big way.

Since turning pro in 2007, Solis has consistently fought in the 250s, and in the last three years, Solis’ weight has really gotten out of control with him fighting in the 260s and 270s. That’s simply too much weight for him. He’s not a big guy and underneath all those layers of fat there’s the 200 pound fighter that dazzled boxing fans in the amateurs.

The problem is he’s simply not going in the right direction in managing his weight, and at 32, it’s unclear whether Solis can get control over his weight at this stage in his career. He’s consistently been fighting at such a high weight that the chances of him getting down to the 220s and fighting at that weight are probably quite low. He would be perfect if he could fight at say 225lbs, because that would give him a little extra muscle while keeping the fat at a tolerable level. But anything above 225, and we’re too much fat and weight for his knees to be carrying around.