Vitalii Volodymyrovych Klychko (; ; born 19 July 1971), known as Vitali Klitschko, is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He serves as mayor of Kyiv,[Odlanier Solis was going to take place in ]Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
on 19 March.Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
and both fighters and managers attended the press conference. At the press conference, neither fighter or promoter etc. spoke English, as there was no need to. Odlanier Solis does not speak English and Vitali Klitschko had no need to as the press conference and fight is in Germany.
There had been some trash talk up to the fight. Odlanier Solis has accused Vitali Klitschko for spreading rumors about him, that he is lazy, because of how he trains. Solis said that he is in perfect shape and ready to defeat Klitschko. Vitali Klitschko on the other hand said that he will get rid of Solis from the boxing world, after the challenger stated several times that he will defeat Klitschko, end his reign and send him to retirement. Klitschko had earlier said that he had fought some strong opponents, but never an Olympic gold medalist (which was inaccurate as he faced Lennox Lewis
Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a British-Canadian boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed in the heavyweight division from 1989 to 2003. He was a three-time world champion, a two-time lineal champion, ...
, who was an Olympic Gold Medalist). He also said that he expected a tough and close fight against a young and talented fighter. Solis' manager Ahmet Öner had also accused Vitali Klitschko for avoiding this fight for a long time.
The second press conference was held on March 14 in Cologne. The press conference was quiet and there were no trash talk at the conference, although they both promised a knockout.
Before the fight, there was also a public work-out held on 16 March at the Mercedes-Benz Center in Cologne.
Ticket sales for the fight started on January 26 on www.eventim.de. The prices for the fight started at €
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
25. The official weigh-in for the fight took place in Cologne, Germany, on 18 March. It took place at Karstadt Sport Breite Straße. The official weight for the two fighters was as follows: Vitali Klitschko weighed in at 249.5 lbs., while Odlanier Solis weighed in at 247 lbs.K2 Promotions
K, or k, is the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''kay'' (pronounced ), plural ''kays''.
The letter ...
) was the promoter.
The fight
Vitali Klitschko defeated Odlanier Solis in the first round. Solis went down near the end of the opening round, getting hit by a right hook to the temple. He immediately began grabbing his right knee upon attempting to get to his feet. He was able to make it to his feet. At that, the referee waved an end to the bout.
Aftermath
After the fight, Solis was brought to Cologne's University Hospital, where it was confirmed that Solis suffered from a legitimate and serious knee injury. It was known that Solis had torn his cruciate ligament and damaged cartilage in the fall.
Solis promoter Ahmet Öner yelled and was very angry and frustrated after the fight. He showed up at the post-fight press conference, but only to give his opinion about Vitali Klitschko's manager, Bernard Bönte, whom he yelled and screamed at. Vitali Klitschko retained his WBC heavyweight title against Tomasz Adamek on 10 September in Poland, winning by TKO in the 10th round.
Odlanier Solis was set to make his comeback on November 25, 2011 in Trabzon
Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...
, Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, but due to issues he was not able to leave the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and his fight was taken off the card.
Undercard
Confirmed bouts:
International broadcasting
In Germany, the fight was broadcast live and exclusively on RTL Television
RTL (from '), formerly RTL plus and RTL Television, is a German-language free-to-air television channel owned by RTL Deutschland, headquartered in Cologne. Founded as an offshoot of the German-language radio programme '' ,'' RTL is cons ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klitschko, Solis
2011 in boxing
2011 in German sport
March 2011 sports events in Europe
Boxing matches in Germany
Solis
Boxing on Sky Sports
Sport in Cologne
World Boxing Council heavyweight championship matches