Boxing Preview: Lazarte, Solis Rematch Tonight For IBF Title

IBF light flyweight ruler Luis Alberto Lazarte revisits his title defense against former champion Ulises Solis tonight as the rematch takes place at Club Once Unidos in Mar Del Plata, Argentina.

Lazarte, 48-9-2 (18), made the second defense of his title against Solis, 32-2-3 (21), in December at Club Once Unidos, retaining the belt via majority draw but the outcome produced such controversy that a rematch was mandated almost immediately.

In the initial contest Lazarte, who had been disqualified four times previously, two of which were world title bouts, went between two approaches, either doing very little in a defensive posture or rushing in wildly and repeatedly rabbit punching Solis.

It’s remarkable that Lazarte only lost points for this tactic on two occasions or even more so that two judges saw the bout at 113-113 while the third had it as 117-109 for Solis.

It will be interesting to see if Lazarte, now 40 years old, takes a cleaner or at least more active approach to the rematch.

Although just 5’1 tall and lacking a big punch, Lazarte is physically very strong and can be very effective with his swarming, mauling style but also has a tendency to absorb punishment on the way in.

He’ll need to jab his was closer to Solis and work the body of his taller opponent, making sure that the punches don’t stray below the belt line.

Solis is by far the higher skilled boxer here and his long reach coupled with a good jab gave Lazarte difficulty in the first fight. The 29 year old Mexican needs to stay out of the trenches and wear down Lazarte by making him work hard in every round but most importantly miss with those big roundhouse punches.

The bout’s location in Lazarte’s hometown will make it hard for Solis to win a decision so the challenger somehow needs to find a way to end matters himself to ensure victory.

The undercard sees heavyweight Gonzalo Omar Basile, 49-5 (23), in an eight rounder against Manuel Alberto Pucheta, 34-5 (27).