Boxing Preview: Vitali Klitschko vs. Odlanier Solis

Big heavyweight action hits Germany once again tonight as WBC champion Vitali Klitschko makes a defense against mandatory challenger Odlanier Solis at Lanxess Arena in Cologne.

This bout has been a long time coming, or at least Team Solis has been calling long and loud for it in their seemingly unending press campaign to get the older Klitschko brother in the ring.

And that has been a bit of a trend for most of Klitschko’s title fights since returning from a four year exile and without fail, all of those bouts were very one-sided affairs with the champion just outfighting the competition.

However, Klitschko is nearing 40 years of age and logically it has to be assumed that the calendar will catch up with the Ukrainian giant at some point, but will that take place this evening?

Former Cuban amateur star Solis definitely thinks that will be the case but will he be able to succeed in an endeavor that has been past every opponent save Lennox Lewis over the last eight years?

Solis could be the best boxer that Klitschko has faced since the Lewis bout but it is hard to tell. The 30 year old challenger hasn’t tangled with anyone truly dangerous over the course of his four year pro career as the recent lineup of Ray Austin, Carl Davis Drummond and Monte Barrett stand as the height of Solis’ pro opposition to date.

But then again, Klitschko’s last three victories over Shannon Briggs, Albert Sosnowski and Kevin Johnson weren’t exactly conquests over an early 70’s Ali, Frazier and Foreman.

At any rate, this bout at least seems to present Klitschko with more of a challenge than he’s had in awhile and it’s the skill and very long reach of Solis that could present the champion with difficulty.

Fighting Vitali is truly hard; he’s truly awkward, punches from unexpected angles, is very fast but most importantly possesses probably the heaviest hands of any world class boxer fighting today.

For Solis to pull off a major upset, he’ll have to slip Klitschko’s jab while avoiding getting caught on the way in. Once inside he’ll have to go to the body and rough up the champion, beating Klitschko to the punch and taking away his confidence.

Easier said than done as most opponents simply end up standing outside, wary of those big punches after feeling a few bombs and at that point they’re simply picked apart by the masterful Dr. Ironfist.

Klitschko must be prepared to go 12 rounds and not run out of gas along the way if this one turns out to be competitive. He’ll have to try and end it early or at least severely reduce Solis’ ambition by going on the offensive and establishing his authority.

The champion will likely walk out of Lanxess Arena with another successful defense as Solis is probably stepping up to far without ever having faced better opposition beforehand.

The undercard sees former Interim WBO cruiserweight titlist Ola Afolabi, 15-2-3 (6), fighting Lubos Suda, 23-4-1 (15), for the vacant WBO Intercontinental belt along with former British and Commonwealth heavyweight king Michael Sprott, 35-15 (17), clashing with Serder Uysal, 13-12-2 (6).