Heavyweights Tony Thompson and Odlanier Solis will meet for the second time this Friday, February 27th. The two fought for the first time in March of 2014, and that fight saw Thompson coming in as a (+180) underdog, only to see him take a close Split Decision. For this second meeting, Solis is once again favored at (-290) over Thompson, who is coming back at (+245). Despite the fact that the fight is in Europe, the twelve round bout is for the WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight title. No over/under is posted. Thompson is a savvy veteran who is 43 years old and sports a solid (39-5) record. Back in 2008, he went eleven rounds before being stopped by Wladimir Klitschko for the first significant loss of his career, and in 2012 he extended Klitschko into the 6th round before going down. Since the second loss to Klitschko, he has gone (3-2), with the two losses coming against Kubrat Pulev and Carlos Takam, both ranked heavyweights whom he took the distance. One of those wins was the first outing against Solis, where he wisely used his height and reach advantages to prevent Solis from mounting a consistent offense. The other two wins in that time span for Thompson came over British Olympic Bronze Medalist David Price, as Price was undefeated at (15-0) and he took the fight with Thompson as a fight he was supposed to win. It was a bad miscalculation on the part of Price and his handlers, as he knocked Price out in the second round of their first fight with a punch to the neck. Setting up an immediate re-match back-fired for Price, as Thompson knocked him into heavyweight obscurity in five rounds. Solis and his handlers may be about to make the same mistake. Solis defected out of Cuba with Yuriorkis Gamboa, bringing a long amateur resume to the professional ranks and fast tracking his way up the rankings. He moved his record to (17-0) and earned a title fight against Vitali Klitschko, but never got into the fight as he suffered a knee injury in the opening round. He took more than a year off, and questions came up about his work ethic. A stocky heavyweight, he has been weighing in the mid 250’s since the beginning of his pro career, but he seems to have slowed down now that he is in his mid-thirties. He had won three fights in a row heading into the Thompson bout, and this re-match was originally scheduled for October of 2014 but had to be postponed due to another Solis injury. Despite his age, Thompson is big and durable, and he will present the problems Solis had he first time. Thompson took out Price who is 6’8, and he is now dueling the 6’1 Solis. Thompson knows how to stick to a game plan, and he is going to have to be ready to go a full twelve rounds. Thompson will not be intimidated, as this fight is more or less on neutral grounds. The two fights with David Price were in Price’s hometown of Liverpool, and he remained calm and did his job. Solis is a fighter who is much further along than Price, and Solis’ short stature and high mass make a knock out less likely.
