Thjis Friday night in Turkey, heavyweights Tony Thompson and Odlanier Solis do battle for the WBC Continental Americas title. Right now, the books have Solis installed as the favorite at (-290), with the comeback on Thompson at (+245).
Now, the two men met before, back in March of 2014, and Thompson walked away with a split decision win after twelve rounds. Thompson entered that fight a (+180) underdog, so it is interesting to note this line is even wider in Solis’ favor after the loss. Thompson is 43 years old, and after beating Solis he dropped a fight to Carlos Takam in June.
Now at 34 years old, Solis has a 20-2 record and he is running the risk of not matching his great potential. The Cuban fighter is a 2004 Olympic Gold medalist at heavyweight, and his amateur credentials compile a list that is a mile long. In 2011, he earned a shot at then WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, but that fight lasted less than a round before Solis was stopped, claiming a knee injury. The injury, plus the fact that he earned more than a million dollars to face Klitschko let to more than a year of inactivity. This fight was originally scheduled for October, but was postponed due to a sprained ankle on the part of Solis.
The big knock on Solis is his work ethic, and the delay in making this rematch happen adds to that perception. Since May of 2012, he has fought just four times, going (3-1), but he has not gotten anyone excited about him. The heavyweight division has received an influx of new blood, and there is a lot of gamesmanship going on as the ranks roil and shift under Wladimir Klitschko. Solis needs to get past the challenge of Tony Thompson and move on if he is going to rekindle talk about him being one of the top heavyweights.
Thompson, at 43, is still a dangerous professional, and despite the loss to Takam where he lost some of the steam he built up by beating Solis, Thompson could beat him again if given the chance. Thompson has been in this bout before, taking out British Olympian David Price then giving him a rematch and taking him out again.
