Sam Soliman (born 13 November 1973) is an Australian professional boxer, and former

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

and mixed martial artist. In boxing, he held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

title in 2014.

Kickboxing career

Soliman is a former world champion in

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

, and also competed in

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

Professional boxing career

On 20 April 1997, Soliman made his professional boxing debut, defeating Heath Stenton by four-round

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

(UD). In the first half of his career he won a multitude of regional titles, from

light-middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the International Boxing Federation, IBF or ...

to cruiserweight. Most notably he won the vacant

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

middleweight title on 19 June 2000, scoring a ninth-round stoppage over

Neville Brown Neville Brown (born 26 February 1966) is a British former boxer who was British middleweight champion between 1993 and 1998, and also fought for Commonwealth, European, and World titles. Career From Burton-upon-Trent, Neville Brown first tas ...

. This reign was short-lived, as Soliman would lose a

points decision A points decision is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. Unlike normal decisions where there are three judges that agree on whic ...

to Howard Eastman a few months later on 16 September. His first world championship opportunity came on 7 March 2007, against Anthony Mundine for the vacant WBA

super-middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

title in an all-Australian showdown. After four knockdowns, Soliman lost by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in round nine. In a rematch on 28 May 2008, this time with Mundine as defending champion, Soliman lost by UD. The pinnacle of Soliman's career was on 31 May 2014, when he defeated multiple-time world champion

Felix Sturm Adnan Ćatić (born 31 January 1979), known as Felix Sturm, is a Bosnian-German professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO middleweight title from 2003 to 2004, the WBA middleweight ti ...

by UD to win the

middleweight title. They had previously fought on 1 February 2013, which was a fight marred afterwards by a drawn-out legal battle which took more than three years to resolve. Soliman was first announced to have failed a drug test in April 2013, which resulted in the German Boxing Federation ruling the fight a

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...

and handing him a nine-month suspension in Germany. In October 2016, Soliman was exonerated by a German court which judged the Federation to have acted unlawfully, thus overturning the no contest result. However, in yet another short-lived championship reign, Soliman lost by UD to former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor on 8 October 2014, enduring four knockdowns due to a debilitating knee injury.

Outside of boxing

Soliman has worked with people in need, and closely with the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

. He has set up a gym and spends twice a week teaching fitness and wellbeing to homeless people.Kieza, Grantlee (8 April 2017)
"After 20 years in the ring, former world champion Sam Soliman could be fighting his last bout"
''

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, ...

''.

Queensland Newspapers Queensland Newspapers is the Queensland, Australia-based subsidiary of News Corporation. Queensland Newspapers is responsible for publishing ''The Courier-Mail'' daily newspaper. List of Queensland Newspapers Toowoomba Chronicle ''The Toowoomb ...

. Retrieved 22 August 2017. In 1996, he competed as a contestant on season three of ''

Australian Gladiators ''Gladiators'' is an Australian television series which aired on Saturday nights on the Seven Network from 29 April 1995 until 12 October 1996 almost consecutively for eighteen months. It was based on the popular franchise of the same name, wh ...

''.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soliman, Sam Egyptian male boxers Australian people of Coptic descent Australian people of Egyptian descent Super-middleweight boxers Doping cases in boxing 1973 births Living people The Contender (TV series) participants Boxers from Melbourne Australian male boxers Commonwealth Boxing Council champions International Boxing Federation champions Light-middleweight boxers Light-heavyweight boxers Cruiserweight boxers World middleweight boxing champions Australian male kickboxers Australian Muay Thai practitioners