Odlanier Solis

By Jim Dower: 43-year-old former two time world title challenger Tony Thompson (40-5, 27 KOs) stopped a badly out of shape 272 pound Odlanier Solis (20-3, 13 KOs) on Friday night in stopping him in the 9th round in front of a sparse crowd at the Gloria Sports Arena, Gloria Hotels and Resorts, Antalya, Turkey.

A balding and flabby looking 34-year-old Solis failed to come out for the 9th round. Solis didn’t look hurt in between the 8th and 9th rounds at the time of the stoppage. He just looked tired and grossly overweight.

Solis looked like he hadn’t trained at all for the fight, as he had rolls of fat on his midsection. The 272 matches the career-high he weighed for his fight against Konstantin Airich in May of 2012. That was when Solis came off of a 14 month layoff following a knee injury he suffered in getting blown out in one round by former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in March of 2011.

By Dan Ambrose: In a must win bout for both fighters, #13 WBC heavyweight fringe contender Odlanier Solis (20-2, 13 KOs) and 42-year-old #13 WBO Tony Thompson (39-5, 26 KOs) will be facing each other in October in a rematch.

The two fighters faced each other last March with Thompson pounding out a 12 split decision at the Atatürk Spor Salonu, Tekirdag, Turkey. Thompson clearly won the fight and deserved a unanimous decision rather than a split decision. He simply outworked the chunky 257 pound Solis.

The exact date and venue of the Solis-Thompson II fight is still being worked out at this time, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it winds up in Turkey again.
The winner of the rematch between the two fighters will keep their faint hopes for a world title shot in the future if they keep winning or if they get picked out by one of the champions in a voluntary defense, which isn’t too likely.

By Allan Fox: 42-year-old Tony Thompson (38-4, 16 KO’s) beat a lazy-looking Odlanier Solis (20-2, 13 KO’s) by a 12 round split decision on Saturday night to capture the vacant WBC International heavyweight title at the Tekirdag, Turkey. The final judges scores were 115-114, 115-113 for Thompson. The final judges had it 116-112 for Solis. Thompson appeared to win 11 of the 12 rounds in my scoring of the fight. The only round that Solis fought well enough to win was the 2nd. All the rest of the rounds he was badly outworked by the older and much bigger Thompson.

Thompson, 6’5″, had too much size for the smaller 6’1″ Solis in this fight, and most of the rounds saw Solis being jabbed constantly in the face. Thompson wasn’t putting much power in his shots, but he was throwing nonstop punches that Solis had no answer for. Occasionally, Solis would throw a few shots, but mostly he just stood and covered up. Solis had the better power, but he would frequently miss with his shots when trying to nail Thompson.

(Photo credit: Team Thompson) By Allan Fox: #5 IBF, #10 WBC heavyweight contender Odlanier Solis (20-1, 13 KO’s) will be taking on two-time world title challenger #1 IBF, 42-year-old Tony Thompson (38-4, 26 KO’s) this Saturday, March 22nd in Istanbul, Turkey. The two fighters will be battling it out for the vacant WBC International heavyweight title. But the fight is a lot more important than the little known title that will be on the line. The winner of the fight will keep in the hunt for a world title shot against one of the heavyweight champions, while the loser will likely see his career skittering downward in the top 15 rankings.

If Solis, 33, comes into shape for this fight then he should be able to come out on top and win a decision based on his hand speed, power advantage and his youth. However, he’s someone that tends to come into his fights in the mid-250s, and that’s a lot of weight to be putting on a small 6’1” heavyweight.