| Odlanier Solís Fonte | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Odlanier Solís Fonte |
| Nickname(s) | La Sombra |
| Rated at | Heavyweight |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Reach | 79 in (201 cm) |
| Nationality | Cuban |
| Born | April 5, 1980 Havana, Cuba |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 18 |
| Wins | 17 |
| Wins by KO | 12 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Cuba | ||
| Men’s boxing | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Gold | 2004 Athens | Heavyweight |
| World Amateur Championships | ||
| Gold | 2001 Belfast | Heavyweight |
| Gold | 2003 Bangkok | Heavyweight |
| Gold | 2005 Mianyang | Super Heavyweight |
| Pan American Games | ||
| Gold | 1999 Winnipeg | Heavyweight |
| Gold | 2003 Santo Domingo | Heavyweight |
| World Cup | ||
| Silver | 2005 Moscow | Super Heavyweight |
Odlanier Solís Fonte (born April 5, 1980 in Havana) is a Cuban professional boxer. He won the Olympic Gold medal in Athens 2004 and was a three time winner at the World Amateur Boxing Championships.
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His first international success was in 1998, winning the title at the Pan American Juniors championship in Toluca and the Juniors World championship in Buenos Aires.
In 1999 he won the Cuban championship beating Félix Savón. Until 2004 he defended his title five times consecutively.
In 2005 he switched from heavyweight to super heavyweight and lost in the finale to Michel López Núñez. In 2006 he won the title again for a seventh time.
He was part of the Cuban team that won the 2006 Boxing World Cup.[1]
His record was 227 victories, 14 losses. He never lost at a major event (world championships, Olympics) and beat fellow Cuban Félix Savón in two of their three fights.
Solis should have been the Cuban representative to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, because he beat Felix Savon at the Olympic Trials. However, Savon was sent to the Olympics instead, and went on to win heavyweight gold. Because of this, many believe Solis should have won the 2000 Sydney Olympics gold medal.
Solís became world champion in 2001 in Belfast and in 2003 in Bangkok at heavyweight (201 lbs/91 kg limit), in 2005 in Mianyang at super heavyweight.
In 2001 he beat Russian Olympic silver medalist of 2000 Sultan Ibragimov in the semifinals on points and in the final British David Haye by TKO. Haye gave Solis a standing eight count in the first round and was up by 7 points, but Solis came back strong and won the fight by stoppage in the third round.
In 2003 he won on points in the final against Russian archrival Alexander Alekseev who would win the next world championship. Also, Solis defeated Sultan Ibragimov once more (13-7) in four rounds in the XXXIII Chemistry Cup in Halle, Germany on March 10, 2002.
He did not participate in the Olympic Games in Sydney; it is thought that Cuba wanted to allow hero Félix Savón to win his third consecutive Olympic gold, thereby equalizing the record of László Papp and Teófilo Stevenson. In the Olympic Games 2004 in Athens Solís won the heavyweight gold medal at 201 lbs.
He defected from the national Cuban boxing team in December 2006, during training in Venezuela for the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro. With him, came two fellow amateurs and reigning Olympic champions, Yan Barthelemí Varela and Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano. After escaping to Colombia, they arrived in Miami. Solís, who plans to reside in Germany, signed a professional promotional contract with German-based First Artist.
Solís made his professional debut on April 27, 2007, weighing in at a much higher weight at 250+ lbs than as an amateur (where he weighed at around 210 lbs) but knocked out 32-7 veteran Andreas Sidon 47 seconds into the first round. In the next 18 months he racked up a 11-0 record against creditable opposition at this stage of a professional career, and in October 2008 he defeated Chauncy Welliver for the WBC international heavyweight title.
In his most recent fight, he weighed 260 pounds.
Solis fighting out of Miami, Florida, made his third successful defense of the WBC International Heavyweight title with a second round stoppage of Monte Barrett of Queens, New York. Solis, now 15-0 with 11 KOs, a Cuban defector with an extensive amateur career, fought a very cautious first as a careful counterpuncher, preferring to feel out the experienced Barrett, age 38, 34-8, 20 KOs, to see if he had anything left. In the second, Solis opened up with a long left to Barrett's chin that decked him. Barrett just beat the count. In the barrage from Solis that followed, Barrett went down from a slip under pressure, got up, then got knocked out.
On March 20, 2010, Solis fought and defeated Carl Davis Drumond by fourth round TKO to retain his WBC International Heavyweight title and to win the WBA Fedelatin Heavyweight title. After toying with Drumond for the first three rounds Solis unleashed a barrage of punches during the last 20 second of round three and would have knocked Drumond down had he not been saved by the ropes, making Drumond not want to come out for the fourth round.
Solis defeated Ray Austin in a WBC title eliminator when Austin was disqualified in the 10th round. Solis connected with combinations to the head in the 10th, with Austin seemingly out on his feet and repeatedly holding Solis to avoid additional shots. The win set up Solis to fight Vitali Klitschko, becoming the mandatory challenger.[2][3] On 11 January, it was official confirmed that the fight between Vitali Klitschko and Solís was going to take place in Cologne, Germany on 19 March 2011. Both fighters promised a victory by knockout.
On 19 March 2011, the two boxers took to the ring in front of a sell out crowd of over 19,000. In the first round of the fight, after the ten second warning bell rang, Solis connected a left hook to Klitschko's chin. Vitali Klitschko returned the favor by firing a short right to Solis's left temple. What followed has been heavily debated by fans and pundits. Some claim, as he was already falling to the ground, Solis injured his right knee while making an effort to prevent himself from hitting the ground. While others maintain that he simply injured his knee, while backpedalling, and was unable to continue.
| 17 Wins (12 knockouts, 5 decisions), 1 Loss (1 knockout, 0 decisions), 0 Draws [1] | |||||||
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes |
| Loss | 17–1 | Vitali Klitschko | KO | 1 (12) | 19/03/2011 | Lanxess-Arena, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | For WBC Heavyweight title. Solis had a knee injury. |
| Win | 17–0 | Ray Austin | DQ | 10 (12) | 17/12/2010 | American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida, United States | WBC Heavyweight title eliminator. |
| Win | 16–0 | Carl Davis Drumond | RTD | 3 (10) | 20/03/2010 | Mallory Square, Key West, Florida, United States | Retained WBC International & WBA Fedelatin Heavyweight titles. |
| Win | 15–0 | Monte Barrett | TKO | 2 (10) | 10/10/2009 | Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States | Retained WBC International Heavyweight title. |
| Win | 14–0 | Dominique Alexander | TKO | 1 (8) | 12/06/2009 | Miccosukee Indian Gaming Resort, Miami, Florida, United States | Alexander down twice. |
| Win | 13–0 | Kevin Burnett | TKO | 8 (10) | 09/01/2009 | Buffalo Bill's Star Arena, Primm, Nevada, United States | Retained WBC International & won vacant WBA Fedelatin HW title. |
| Win | 12–0 | Chauncy Welliver | TKO | 9 (12) | 11/10/2008 | O2 World Arena, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany | Won vacant WBC International Heavyweight title. |
| Win | 11–0 | Chad Van Sickle | TKO | 1 (8) | 12/09/2008 | Kugelbake Halle, Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen, Germany | |
| Win | 10–0 | Harry Duiven Jr | UD | 8 | 07/06/2008 | Karl Eckel Halle, Hattersheim am Main, Hessen, Germany | |
| Win | 9–0 | Mamuka Jikurashvili | KO | 2 (8) | 26/04/2008 | Spor Salonu, Trabzon, Turkey | |
| Win | 8–0 | Cisse Salif | UD | 8 | 14/03/2008 | Zenith - Die Kulturhalle, Munich, Bayern, Germany | |
| Win | 7–0 | Adrian Rajkai | KO | 3 (8) | 29/02/2008 | PalaLido, Milan, Lombardia, Italy | Rajkai down once in round 2 and twice in round 3. |
| Win | 6–0 | Julius Long | UD | 8 | 23/12/2007 | Maritim Hotel, Halle an der Saale, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany | Won vacant WBC Latino Heavyweight title. |
| Win | 5–0 | Jeremy Bates | TKO | 2 (8) | 19/10/2007 | Estrel Convention Center, Neukoelln, Berlin, Germany | |
| Win | 4–0 | Marcus McGee | KO | 2 (6) | 21/09/2007 | Hansehalle, Luebeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany | |
| Win | 3–0 | Aldo Colliander | UD | 4 | 06/07/2007 | Arena Gym, Hamburg, Germany | |
| Win | 2–0 | Aleksey Masikin | KO | 1 (4) | 06/07/2007 | Ataturk Sport Salonu, Ankara, Turkey | |
| Win | 1–0 | Andreas Sidon | KO | 1 (4) | 27/04/2007 | Arena Gym, Hamburg, Germany | |
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