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After a long and protracted call from Team Solis to face WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, former amateur star Odlanier Solis didn’t pose much of a challenge to Klitschko on Saturday night at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany.
The bout started with Klitschko immediately imposing his will upon the challenger, advancing upon the much shorter Solis behind a steady range-finding jab that looked to simply be a setup for a right hand.
Klitschko stayed close to Solis, crouching his 6’7 frame down to that of the 6’1 Solis, the champion’s face right in front of the challenger, trying to get Solis to punch.
The quicker Solis didn’t have a problem hitting Klitschko, throwing, some left hooks and the odd right hand that did connect but Klitschko just brushed them off as inconsequential.
Klitschko did land a short right hand to the head of a crouching Solis about midway through the first frame but the challenger got in a good right of his own a short time later.
Solis tried to follow this up by advancing behind a combination but Klitschko simply backed up to leave the challenger swinging at air. Solis then tried a body but but again, Klitschko’s footwork nullified the attempt.
Klitschko began to put even more pressure on the challenger, Cornering the Cuban and landing a hard right to the body that seemed to both the challenger.
The champion began to jab more and decreased the distance to Solis, landing a quick combination before Solis countered with a right that got in. Again, Solis’ shots had no effect on the towering Ukrainian.
Near the end of the round, Solis shot forward and threw a right hand that landed on the retreating Klitschko, but the champion responded with a clubbing right counter that landed to Solis’ temple.
Solis immediately became rubber-legged and fell over as Klitschko advanced, looking to finish the job. While on the canvas, Solis clutched his right leg before having a great deal of difficulty rising by the count of seven.
When Solis could barely stand upright, the contest was waved off at 2:59 of the first frame. As the referee held onto Solis to keep him from falling over, Klitschko walked over to Solis and appeared to be yelling at the challenger.
With the win, Klitschko improves to 42-2 (39), retaining the WBC belt for the sixth time of his second reign and he remains the top man in the division.
Solis was carted off to the hospital with a reported knee injury after suffering his first loss and dropping to 17-1 (12). Jumping from facing second tier competition to the best in the class proved to be too much of a leap for the Miami resident.
The undercard saw former Interim WBO cruiserweight ruler Ola Afolabi, 16-2-3 (7), halt European Union titlist Lubos Suda, 23-5-1 (15), in the fifth after Suda suffered a bad laceration.
Afolabi picks up the vacant WBO Intercontinental crown and will likely gain another shot at full WBO honors in the near future.
