by Jorge Alarcon-Swaby
It was 1999 and Felix Savon was the most famous a dominant Heavyweight fighter in the world, in the amateur that is. Savon has by far the best amateur record of all time and in 2000 he was headed to Sydney for his 3rd straight Olympic Gold Medal.
Back then no one knew of a heavyweight back in Cuba named Odlanier Solis, but quietly under the radar he was the only guy in the world who could claim dominance over Felix Savon, beating him twice before the Sydney Olympics but still not getting a chance to fight at the big stage.
Even though Solis was beating the great Savon, the cuban government wanted dominance in the Olympics and having another Cuban fighter become only the 3rd person in boxing history to win 3 olympic gold medals since the great Teofilo Stevenson did it, well that was too good of an opportunity to pass up and instead take a chance with the young and unknown Odlanier Solis. Even though Savon was beaten by Solis in the qualifying rounds in Cuba, the young Solis was forced to stay behind.
Felix Savon went on to win his third gold medal that year and is remembered in the amateur world as one of the best, if not the best Heavyweight to ever lace up a pair of gloves. His records speaks for itself.
With Savon retiring after the Sydney Olympics, Solis eventually got his chance at the big stage. He went on to the Olympics of Athens 2004 and easily dominated through the qualifying rounds and eventually won the gold medal.
Now the world knew of the great cuban heavyweight and everyone expected him to win gold again at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Instead, during the qualifying rounds in Venezuela, Solis alongside fellow cuban gold medalists Yuriorkis Gamboa and Yan Barthelemy decided to defect to Germany and take a chance a the pro game.
Solis fought his first 12 fights in Germany before making his United States debut in 2009 against Kevin Burrett where he won an 8th round TKO. He would fight four more times in the US before heading back to Germany for the biggest fight of his life. It was 2011 and Solis was now signed to face Vitali Klitschko for the WBC heavyweight title.
The bell for round one rang and both fighters circled each other, feeling each other out. Solis moved and weaved while Klitschko slowly hunted him down. To the surprise of many, Solis was in control for the first round, he landed several solid shots on Klitschko and looked very comfortable, controlled the phase and was without a doubt easily winning the round.
That was of course until Klitschko landed a right hand to the temple of Solis which droped him to the canvas with approximately 2 seconds left in the round. Once Solis hit the canvas, he began to hold on to his right knee as if a injury was present. There was in fact an injury and Solis was unable to continue fighting.
Most people watching the fight didn’t even notice that a punch had landed. But in fact it did, barely but it was enough for Klitschko to be awarded the first round KO.
Afterwards it was revealed that Solis suffered a serious knee injury and once at the hospital he was told he suffered articular cartilage damage and meniscal tear in the right knee. An injury that would sideline him for a long period of time.
Many people wondered what could have been if Solis had not suffered that knee injury that night. Would he had been able to outbox and eventually dethrone the great Klitschko and become the heavyweight champion most people have been seeking for quite some time ?. We were all left wondering, simply what could have been.
It has been over a year now, 14 months to be exact since that fight took place. This Saturday will be Solis’s first attempt at a comeback when he faces Konstantin Airich (23-5) in City of Pharr, Texas.
Hopefully Solis’s knee will not affect his performances and he will be able to make easy work of his unmatched opponent. Solis has a long road ahead of him before he can be mentioned as a prospect opponent for any of the two Klitschkos brothers once again, but he has faced tough times before and has managed to pull through with great poise. I have no doubt he will do so once again, starting with Saturday.
