Featured Articles
Thompson & Solis Represent Why Klitschkos Own Post-Lewis Era

This past weekend heavyweight contenders Tony Thompson 40-4 (26) and Odlanier Solis 20-2 (13) met for the WBC International title in Tekirdag, Turkey. Forget about the International title that was up for grabs, the real prize for the winner was the opportunity to face the Bermane Stiverne vs. Chris Arreola winner; they meet on May 10th for the vacated WBC title that came up for grabs when defending champ Vitali Klitschko recently retired.
Thompson, 42 has earned two shots at the title and was stopped both times by WBA/WBO/IBF title holder Wladimir Klitschko, the last time being in July of 2012. Solis, 33, fought for the title once and was stopped by Wladimir’s older brother Vitali Klitschko in the first round, back in March of 2011.
The 6’5″ Thompson defeated Solis via a 12-round split decision by the scores of 115-113, 115-114 and 112-116. Solis was a celebrated amateur and gold medal winner in the heavyweight division at the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, Greece. He was also known for beating fellow Cuban sensation Felix Savon twice in three fights. In December of 2006 he defected from the Cuban National team and turned pro in April of 2007. At the time of his pro debut he was viewed as a highly talented and skilled heavyweight and thought to perhaps be a legitimate threat to disrupt and possibly end the stranglehold over the heavyweight division employed by Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko that began with the retirement of Lennox Lewis in 2003. In his bout against Klitschko, Solis injured his right knee trying to catch his balance after being hit by a right to the temple with only seconds remaining in the first round. And some actually felt that he was hurt before the fight but didn’t let anyone know because he didn’t want to lose his shot at the title. Either way the fight didn’t last long enough to truly gauge just how formidable a challenger Solis was.
Tony Thompson turned pro without much hype and fanfare in 2000 and already lost before the year was over, in his fifth bout. After the loss Thompson ran off 27 straight wins due to good timing and management along with his good work ethic. During his 27 bout win streak heading into his first title bout with Wladimir Klitschko, Thompson beat fringe contenders and journeymen Vaughn Bean, Dominick Guinn, Timur Ibragimov and Luan Krasniqi. Heading into the Klitschko bout, Thompson was viewed as a grinder, but there was a thought permeating out there that his long reach and southpaw style could possibly trouble Wladimir. As it turned out that wasn’t the case, Wladimir was just too physically skilled and strong for Thompson and ultimately stopped him in the 11th round of a fight that he basically controlled from the onset. When they met again four years later, it was basically a rerun of their first fight only this time Klitschko needed just six rounds to turn back Thompson’s second bid to take his title. Which brings us to why the heavyweight division is in the doldrums today.
Tony Thompson and Odlanier Solis represent both ends of the spectrum as to the reason why Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko have been so dominant and have rarely lost rounds let alone fights during the past 10 years. Think about it, Vitali hasn’t lost since fighting Lennox Lewis back in June of 2003 and Wladimir hasn’t been defeated since Lamon Brewster beat him back in April of 2004.
In the case of Solis, he represents how talent alone isn’t enough and how unforgiving boxing can be to fighters who are lazy and won’t get in shape. On the other hand, the 42 year old Thompson, who is not a gifted fighter, keeps upsetting peoples’ apple carts and earning big fights, illustrating just how pedestrian the division is. For Solis it was another stinker in a big spot with his career on the line – whereas Thompson stretched the most out of his ability and once again beat a fighter who was both technically better and more gifted than him. Sure, Thompson isn’t undefeated or aesthetically pleasing to watch, but three of his four loses were to Wladimir Klitschko twice and unbeaten Kubrat Pulev (who will soon challenge for the title) in his last fight before facing Solis, and only Klitschko has stopped him.
The reason that we’ve seen the Klitschkos dominate for the last decade is easy to see. For starters both brothers are very tall, long and strong. Winning and being successful is a very high priority to them, and we’ve never seen either Wladimir or Vitali show up on fight night out of shape or disinterested in the outcome. They can both punch and figured out early on in their careers how to use their size; yes, they’re more than just big. They also view boxing as a respectful sport and an honorable way to make a living. Therefore they think it’s disrespectful to show up for a fight out of shape and in the process cheat themselves and the fans. Something else that’s never mentioned is this…they see boxing as a means to an end. In other words, work hard and sacrifice now in turn for the riches and glory that will come later. Basically, boxing is a vehicle to open doors for them down the road when they retire, as we’ve already seen with Vitali who is going to run for president of Ukraine if it isn’t taken over by Russia in the meantime. However, for fighters to be respected in their post boxing life, they have to be seen as winners when they were active fighters, which of course applies to both Wladimir and Vitali.
During the past decade both brothers have faced all type of different styles and fighters during their title reign. Which again brings us back to Tony Thompson and Odlanier Solis. In Thompson you have a fighter who is not really gifted, and he represents one faction of fighters that both brothers have faced. Thompson has size and desire, but he’s not really good at anything and has no identity as a fighter. He’s not fast nor is he really a good boxer and he lacks finishing power. Sure, he gives 100% but just doesn’t have the needed physical tools and skills to beat either Klitschko, who are his equal in size and desire in addition to being able to box and punch really well. Then there’s the Solis faction of fighters they’ve faced, fighters who were gifted but lacked conditioning and desire. The fighters who had the physical tools to bother or possibly beat the Klitschkos lacked the initiative and boxing aptitude to really test them and apply it.
We can look at Floyd Mayweather’s career and note that in most of his big fights there was a manufactured angle that he deliberately sought out in tilting the ring or field of play in his favor. The difference with the Klitschkos is, they fight whoever is out there and don’t seek an edge in picking their opponents. The edge is by nature and already built in for them being that today’s heavyweight division is a land of tweeners. You can go back and look over the last decade, not many of the brothers’ opponents brought a single weapon to the ring that was a bigger concern to them than the formidable problem they presented their opponents. If they fought big guys like them, they held the advantage in boxing ability and power. If they were confronted with guys who could punch, they shut them down and made them afraid to even try and get off with anything consequential for a majority of the bout. The few fighters they had to fight who were better boxers than them were too small to box them and were held in check while they were looking to box and score.
The only way we were going to see either Klitschko get beat after Lennox Lewis retired circa 2003/2004, is if a Tony Thompson with Odlanier Solis’ ability showed up one night. Sadly, a fighter like Thompson will never have nearly enough skill and ability to get the job done, and Solis will never fight to the best of his ability because he lacks the gumption and constitution needed to harvest it. And that’s not either brothers’ fault. They both trained hard and always were looking to improve as fighters. Couple that with their size and power it becomes crystal clear why we’ve seen Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko dominate and own the heavyweight division during the post Lennox Lewis era.
Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com
Featured Articles
International Brotherhood of Prizefighters Rankings: Week of September 24, 2023

What’s in a nickname, you ask? Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang exhibited shades of the legendary Brown Bomber, Joe Louis; the exception being he conducts business from the port side. Zhang’s 3rd round stoppage of Joe Joyce sees Joyce exiting the top 10 in the heavyweight division. Also exiting due to inactivity is Andy Ruiz and Luis Ortiz, who last fought each other on September 4, 2022. Gaining entries are Daniel Dubois, Dillian White and Derek Chisora, at 8, 9 and 10 respectively.
At 140, Richardson Hitchins earned his asterisk with a one sided decision over Jose Zepada. Hitchins enters the top 10 in the 7th slot, while Zepeda falls to 8th. Zhankosh Turarov drops to 9th in the world and immediately underneath him, rounding out the top 10, is Elvis Rodriguez. Scotland’s Josh Taylor gets bumped from the 10th slot.
At 108, World Champion Kenshiro Teraji defended his title with a stoppage of 4th ranked Hekkie Budler in round 9 of a scheduled 12. Budler drops to 7th, see list for reshuffle.
*Please note that when the fighter’s name appears with an asterisk it represents a movement in ranking from the previous week.
105lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Thammanoon Niyomtrong (Knockout CP Freshmart) (Thailand)
2 Panya Pradabsri (Petchmanee CP Freshmart) (Thailand)
3 Oscar Collazo (USA)
4 Ginjiro Shigeoka (Japan)
5 Daniel Valladares (Mexico)
6 Yudai Shigeoka (Japan)
7 Melvin Jerusalem (Philippines)
8 Masataka Taniguchi (Japan)
9 Rene Mark Cuarto (Philippines)
10 Yudai Shigeoka (Philippines)
108lbs
♛ Kenshiro Teraji (Japan)
1 Jonathan Gonzalez (Puerto Rico)
2 Masamichi Yabuki (Japan)
3 Sivenathi
4 Elwin Soto (Mexico)*
5 Regie Suganob (Philippines)*
6 Shokichi Iwata (Japan)*
7 Hekkie Budler (South Africa)*
8 Carlos Canizales (Venezuela)
9 Daniel Matellon (Panama)
10 Miel Fajardo (Philippines)
112lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Sunny Edwards (England)
2 Artem Dalakian (Ukraine)
3 Julio Cesar Martinez (Mexico)
4 Angel Ayala Lardizabal (Mexico)
5 David Jimenez (Costa Rica)
6 Jesse Rodriguez (USA)
7 Ricardo Sandoval (USA)
8 Felix Alvarado (Nicaragua)
9 Seigo Yuri Akui (Japan)
10 Taku Kuwahara (Japan)
115lbs
♛ Juan Francisco Estrada (Mexico)
1 Roman Gonzalez (Nicaragua)
2 Kazuto Ioka (Japan)
3 Fernando Martinez (Argentina)
4 Junto Nakatani (Japan)
5 Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (Thailand)
6 Kosei Tanaka (Japan)
7 Andrew Moloney (Australia)
8 Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (Mexico)
9 Pedro Guevara (Mexico)
10 Donnie Nietes (Philippines)
118lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Emmanuel Rodriguez (Puerto Rico)
2 Alexandro Santiago (Mexico)
3 Jason Moloney (Australia)
4 Vincent Astrolabio (Philippines)
5 Gary Antonio Russell (USA)
6 Takuma Inoue (Japan)
7 Nonito Donaire (Philippines)
8 Ryosuke Nishida (Japan)
9 Keita Kurihara (Japan)
10 Paul Butler (England)
122lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Naoya Inoue (Japan)
2 Marlon Tapales (Philippines)
3 Stephen Fulton (USA)
4 Luis Nery (Mexico)
5 Murodjon Akhmadaliev (Uzbekistan)
6 Sam Goodman (Australia)
7 Azat Hovhannisyan (Armenia)
8 Kevin Gonzalez (Mexico)
9 Ra’eese Aleem (USA)
10 Liam Davies (England)
126lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Luis Alberto Lopez (Mexico)
2 Leigh Wood (England)
3 Brandon Figueroa (USA)
4 Rey Vargas (Mexico)
5 Mauricio Lara (Mexico)
6 Robeisy Ramirez (Cuba)
7 Mark Magsayo (Philippines)
8 Josh Warrington (England)
9 Reiya Abe (Japan)
10 Otabek Kholmatov (Uzbekistan)
130lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Emanuel Navarrete (Mexico)
2 Joe Cordina (Wales)
3 Hector Garcia (Dominican Republic)
4 O’Shaquie Foster (USA)
5 Oscar Valdez (Mexico)
6 Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (Tajikistan)
7 Otar Eranosyan (Georgia)
8 Lamont Roach (USA)
9 Eduardo Ramirez (Mexico)
10 Kenichi Ogawa (Japan)
135lbs
♛ Devin Haney (USA)
1 Gervonta Davis (USA)
2 Vasily Lomachenko (Ukraine)
3 Isaac Cruz (Mexico)
4 William Zepeda Segura (Mexico)
5 Frank Martin (USA)
6 Shakur Stevenson (USA)
7 Maxi Hughes (England)
8 George Kambosos Jr (Australia)
9 Keyshawn Davis (USA)
10 Raymond Muratalla (USA)
140lbs
♛ Teofimo Lopez (USA)
1 Regis Prograis (USA)
2 Jose Ramirez (USA)
3 Jack Catterall (England)*
4 Subriel Matias (Puerto Rico)*
5 Arnold Barboza Jr. (USA)*
6 Gary Antuanne Russell (USA)*
7 Richardson Hitchins (USA)*
8 Jose Zepeda (USA)*
9 Zhankosh Turarov (Kazakhstan*)
10 Elvis Rodriguez (Dominican Republic)*
147lbs
♛ Terence Crawford (USA)
1 Errol Spence (USA)
2 Jaron Ennis (USA)
3 David Avanesyan (Russia)
4 Cody Crowley (Canada)
5 Alexis Rocha (USA)
6 Rashidi Ellis (USA)
7 Souleymane Cissokho (Senegal)
8 Roiman Villa (Venezuela)
9 Egidijus Kavaliauskas (Lithuania)
10 Shakhram Giyasov (Uzbekistan)
154lbs
♛ Jermell Charlo (USA)
1 Tim Tszyu (Australia)
2 Brian Mendoza (USA)
3 Jesus Alejandro Ramos (USA)
4 Sebastian Fundora (USA)
5 Erickson Lubin (USA)
6 Michel Soro (Ivory Coast)
7 Magomed Kurbanov (Russia)
8 Tony Harrison (USA)
9 Israil Madrimov (Uzbekistan)
10 Bakhram Murtazaliev (Russia)
160lbs
♛ Vacant
1 Gennady Golovkin (Kazakhstan)
2 Carlos Adames (Dominican Republic)
3 Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (Kazakhstan)
4 Chris Eubank Jr. (England)
5 Liam Smith (England)
6 Sergiy Derevyanchenko (Ukraine)*
7 Vincenzo Gualtieri (Germany)
8 Felix Cash (England)
9 Michael Zerafa (Australia)
10 Esquiva Falcao (Brazil)
168lbs
♛ Canelo Alvarez (Mexico)
1 David Benavidez (USA)
2 Caleb Plant (USA)
3 Christian Mbilli (France)
4 David Morrell (Cuba)
5 John Ryder (England)
6 Pavel Silyagin (Russia)
7 Vladimir Shishkin (Russia)
8 Carlos Gongora (Ecuador)
9 Jaime Munguia (Mexico)
10 Demetrius Andrade (USA)
175lbs
♛ Artur Beterbiev (Canada)
1 Dmitry Bivol (Russia)
2 Joshua Buatsi (England)
3 Callum Smith (England)
4 Joe Smith Jr. (USA)
5 Gilberto Ramirez (Mexico)
6 Anthony Yarde (England)
7 Dan Azeez (England)
8 Ali Izmailov (Russia)
9 Michael Eifert (Germany)
10 Igor Mikhalkin (Germany)
200lbs
♛ Jai Opetaia (Australia)
1 Mairis Breidis (Latvia)
2 Chris Billam-Smith (England)
3 Richard Riakporhe (England)
4 Aleksei Papin (Russia)
5 Badou Jack (Sweden)
6 Arsen Goulamirian (France)
7 Lawrence Okolie (England)
8 Yuniel Dorticos (Cuba)
9 Mateusz Masternak (Poland)
10 Ilunga Makabu (So. Africa)
Unlimited
♛ Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine)
1 Tyson Fury (England)
2 Zhilei Zhang (China)
3 Deontay Wilder (USA)
4 Anthony Joshua (England)
5 Filip Hrgovic (Croatia)
6 Arslanbek Makhmudov (Russia)*
7 Frank Sanchez (Cuba)*
8 Daniel Dubois (England)*
9 Dillian White (England)*
10 Derek Chisora (Zimbabwe)*
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum, CLICK HERE.
Featured Articles
Canelo-Charlo Gets All the Ink, but Don’t Overlook the Compelling Match-up of Gassiev-Wallin in Turkey

Canelo-Charlo Gets All the Ink, but Don’t Overlook the Compelling Match-up of Gassiev-Wallin in Turkey
The eyes of the boxing world will be on Las Vegas this Saturday where Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez risks his four super middleweight title belts against unified 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo. Earlier that day at a luxury resort hotel in the city of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, there’s a heavyweight match sitting under the radar that may prove to be the better fight. It’s an intriguing match-up between former world cruiserweight title-holder Murat Gassiev and Swedish southpaw Otto Wallin, a bout with significant ramifications for boxing’s glamour division.
Gassiev (30-1, 23 KOs) and Wallin (25-1, 14 KOs) have only one loss, but those setbacks came against the top dogs in the division. Gassiev was out-boxed by Oleksandr Usyk back in the days when both were cruiserweights. Wallin gave Tyson Fury a world of trouble before losing a unanimous decision.
Since those fights, both have been treading water.
Gassiev
Gassiev was inactive for 27 months after his match with Usyk while dealing with legal issues and an injury to his left shoulder. He is 4-0 (4 KOs) since returning to the ring while answering the bell for only eight rounds. The only recognizable name among those four victims is German gatekeeper Michael Wallisch. After stopping Wallisch, Gassiev was out of action for another 13 months while reportedly dealing with an arm injury.
A first-round knockout of Carlouse Welch, an obscure 40-something boxer from the U.S. state of Georgia on Aug. 26, 2022, in Belgrade, Serbia, was promoted as a title fight. The sanctioning body was the Eurasian Boxing Parliament (insert your own punchline here). Gassiev followed that up with a second-round knockout of former NFL linebacker Mike Balogun who came in undefeated and was seemingly a legitimate threat to him.
Although he has yet to fight a ranked opponent since leaving the cruiserweight division, Gassiev — a former stablemate of Gennady Golovkin who has been living in Big Bear, California, training under Abel Sanchez – is one of the most respected fighters in the division because he has one-punch knockout power as Balogun and others can well attest. The rub against the Russian-Armenian bruiser is that he is somewhat robotic.
Wallin
Otto Wallin, a 32-year-old southpaw from Sweden who trains in New York under former world lightweight champion Joey Gamache, fought Tyson Fury on Sept. 14, 2019 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. There was a general feeling that the Swede would be a stroll in the park for Fury, but to the contrary, he gave the Gypsy King a hard tussle while losing a unanimous decision.
Wallin is 5-0 since that night beginning with victories over Travis Kauffman (KO 5) and Dominic Breazeale (UD 12), but his last three opponents were softer than soft and all three lasted the distance. In order, Wallin won an 8-round decision over Kamil Sokolowski, who was 11-24-2 heading in, won a 10-round decision over ancient Rydell Booker, and won an 8-round decision over Helaman Olguin. His bout with Utah trial horse Olguin was at a banquet hall in Windham, New Hampshire.
It isn’t that Wallin has been avoiding the top names in the division; it’s the other way around. His promoter Dmitriy Salita reportedly came close to getting Wallin a match with Anthony Joshua whose team had second thoughts about sending Joshua in against another southpaw after back-to-back setbacks to Oleksandr Usyk.
Gassiev vs Wallin is a true crossroads fight. Both are in dire need of a win over a credible opponent. At last look, Gassiev, who figures to have the crowd in his corner, was a 3/1 favorite.
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Featured Articles
Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.
Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.
It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.
Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.
Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.
Bustillo Wins Rematch
In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.
Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.
Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.
After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.
Other Bouts
In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.
A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).
Photos credit: Al Applerose
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Christian Mbilli Demolishes Demond Nicholson to Inch Closer to a Title Shot
-
Featured Articles3 weeks ago
Results from Manchester where Chris Eubank Jr Avenged a KO Loss in a Dominant Fashion
-
Featured Articles3 days ago
Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Avila Perspective, Chap. 250: Liam Smith vs Chris Eubank Jr II in Manchester
-
Featured Articles2 weeks ago
Derby’s Sandy Ryan Poised to Unify the Welterweight Title in Her U.S. Debut
-
Featured Articles3 days ago
Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach
-
Featured Articles1 week ago
William Zepeda Wins by KO; Yokasta Valle Wins Too at Commerce Casino
-
Featured Articles2 weeks ago
Luis Alberto Lopez Retains his IBF Title, Upends Joet Gonzalez in Corpus Christi