Odlanier Solís facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Odlanier Solís
Statistics
Real name	Odlanier Solís Fonte
Nickname(s)	La Sombra ("The Shadow")
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 1+1/2 in
Reach	79 in
Born	(1980-04-05) 5 April 1980 (age 45) Havana, Cuba
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	25
Wins	22
Wins by KO	14
Losses	3
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  Cuba Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 0 World Championships 3 0 0 Pan American Games 2 0 0 World Cup 0 1 0 Goodwill Games 1 0 0 Total 7 1 0 Olympic Games Gold 2004 Athens Heavyweight World 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 Goodwill Games Gold 2001 Brisbane Heavyweight

Odlanier Solís Fonte (born 5 April 1980) is a retired professional boxer from Cuba. He is known for being a very successful amateur boxer. He won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and three gold medals at the World Amateur Boxing Championships. He was a top-ranked heavyweight boxer.

Amateur Boxing Career

Odlanier Solís started his international boxing journey in 1998. He won titles at the Pan American Juniors championship in Toluca and the Juniors World championship in Buenos Aires.

In 1999, he won the Cuban championship. He beat the famous boxer Félix Savón. Solís kept his Cuban title for five years in a row until 2004.

In 2005, he changed his weight class from heavyweight to super heavyweight. He lost in the final to Michel López Núñez. In 2006, he won the Cuban title again for the seventh time. He was also part of the Cuban team that won the 2006 Boxing World Cup.

Solís had an amazing amateur record with 227 wins and only 14 losses. He never lost at major events like the World Championships or the Olympics. He even beat Félix Savón in two out of their three fights. One of these wins was in the 2000 Cuban Olympic trials. Normally, this win would have sent Solís to the Sydney Olympics. However, Savon was a two-time Olympic champion. The Cuban boxing officials chose Savon instead, hoping he would win a third gold medal. This would have matched the record of other boxing legends. So, Solís did not go to the Olympics that year.

World Championship Wins

Solís became a world champion three times. He won in 2001 in Belfast and in 2003 in Bangkok as a heavyweight. In 2005 in Mianyang, he won as a super heavyweight.

In 2001, he beat Russian Olympic silver medalist Sultan Ibragimov in the semifinals. In the final, he defeated British boxer David Haye. Haye was ahead early in the fight, but Solís came back strong and won by a technical knockout (TKO) in the third round.

In 2003, he won the final against his Russian rival Aleksandr Alekseyev. Solís also beat Sultan Ibragimov again in 2002.

Olympic Gold Medal

Odlanier Solís earned his spot on the Cuban Olympic boxing team for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He continued the legacy of three-time champion Savon by winning the heavyweight gold medal.

Amateur Boxing Achievements

Here are some of Solís's top achievements as an amateur boxer:

• 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece (heavyweight)
  • Won against Aleksandr Alekseyev (Russia)
  • Won against Wilmer Vasquez (Venezuela)
  • Won against Naser Al Shami (Syria)
  • Won against Viktar Zuyev (Belarus)
• 2005 World Cup in Moscow, Russia (heavyweight)
  • Won against Ilgar Mamedov (Azerbaijan)
  • Won against Georgel Gavril (Romania)
  • Won against Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov (Kazakhstan)
  • Lost to Islam Timurziev (Russia)
• 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada (heavyweight)
  • Won against Angus Lewis (Virgin Island)
  • Won against Livin Castillo (Ecuador)
  • Won against Marcelino Novaes (Brazil)
  • Won against Mark Simmons (Canada)
• 2003 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada (heavyweight)
  • Won against Gerardo Bisbal (Puerto Rico)
  • Won against Jason Douglas (Canada)
  • Won against Kertson Manswell (Trinidad & Tobago)
• 1998 World Junior Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina (heavyweight)
  • Won against Steffen Kretschmann (Germany)
  • Won against Evgeniy Arkhipov (Russia)
  • Won against Sebastian Ceballos (Argentina)

Solís also won the World Senior Champion title three times (2001, 2003, 2005). He was a six-time Cuban National Champion (1999–2004). He also won the Chemiepokal three times (2002, 2003, 2004), the Central American and Caribbean Championships in 1999, and the Pan American Boxing Championships in 2005.

Some of the notable boxers he defeated include:

• Cubans: Felix Savón, Robert Alfonso, Michel López Núñez, Osmay Acosta, Yoan Pablo Hernández.
• Non-Cubans: Islam Timurziev, Roman Romanchuk, Vyacheslav Glazkov, Kubrat Pulev, Sultan Ibragimov, David Haye.

Solís ended his amateur career with an impressive record of 227 wins and only 14 losses.

Moving to Professional Boxing

In December 2006, Odlanier Solís left the Cuban national boxing team. This happened during a training camp in Venezuela. Two other Olympic champions, Yan Barthelemí Varela and Yuriorko Gamboa Toledano, also left with him. After going to Colombia, they arrived in Miami. Solís decided to live in Germany and signed a professional boxing contract there.

He made his professional boxing debut on April 27, 2007. He weighed more than he did as an amateur. He quickly knocked out his opponent, Andreas Sidon, in just 47 seconds of the first round. Over the next 18 months, he won 11 fights in a row. In October 2008, he won the WBC International Heavyweight title by defeating Chauncy Welliver.

Key Professional Fights

Solís vs. Monte Barrett

Solís successfully defended his WBC International Heavyweight title for the third time. He stopped Monte Barrett in the second round. Solís, with a record of 15 wins and no losses, started the fight carefully. In the second round, he landed a strong punch that sent Barrett down. After Barrett got up, Solís continued to attack, and Barrett was knocked out.

Solís vs. Carl Davis Drumond

On March 20, 2010, Solís fought Carl Davis Drumond. Solís won by TKO in the fourth round. This win helped him keep his WBC International Heavyweight title and also win the WBA Fedelatin Heavyweight title. Solís dominated the fight, and Drumond was unable to continue after the third round.

Solís vs. Vitali Klitschko

Solís won a fight against Ray Austin, which made him the mandatory challenger for the WBC heavyweight title. This meant he would fight Vitali Klitschko. The fight was set for March 19, 2011, in Cologne, Germany. Both boxers promised to win by knockout.

In the first round of the fight, Klitschko landed a punch that seemed to graze Solís's temple. As Solís was moving backward, he injured his right knee and ankle. He was unable to continue the fight. The fight ended in a first-round knockout for Klitschko.

After the Klitschko Fight

After recovering from his knee surgery, Solís started his comeback. He won three fights in a row over the next three years. He won against Konstantin Airich and undefeated boxer Leif Larsen. However, it seemed like Solís had lost some of his punching power and speed after his injury.

Later Career and Retirement

In 2015, Solís lost two fights in a row to the experienced boxer Tony Thompson. The first loss was by a close split decision. In the second fight, Solís stopped fighting in his corner during the eighth round. After these losses, Solís won two more fights against less experienced opponents. There has not been much talk about him returning to professional boxing.

Professional Boxing Record

See also

In Spanish: Odlanier Solís para niños