BoxRec

Just wondering about your thoughts on the acquisition of 3 former amateur Olympic champs from Cuba by Hamburg-based outfit First Artist and Arena. Flyweight Yan Bartelemi, Super Bantamweight Yuriorquis Gamboa and Heavyweight champ Odlanier Solis who was also a double world champ in 2001 and 2003 beating future Shannon Briggs opponent Sultan Ibragimov and knocking out David Haye. They left their hotel while training in Venezuela for the upcoming Pan-American Games and then crossed into Colombia.

Gamboa said he sold his gold medal last year to pay for his 2-year-old daughter's first birthday party.

Wow, maybe we can have a heavyweight with some skill for a change.

What a shame Rigondeux didn't join the defectors. I would love to see how he went as a pro also.

Yes i would have loved to see rigondeux also, i think he has the potential to be one of the best professionals ever! He has certainly got as much talent as any boxer ive ever seen.
Any boxer that can win over 120 consecutive fights as an amateur especially in the company he's in. Plus 2 olympic golds and 2 world golds must be special!

serious wrote:Yes i would have loved to see rigondeux also, i think he has the potential to be one of the best professionals ever! He has certainly got as much talent as any boxer ive ever seen.
Any boxer that can win over 120 consecutive fights as an amateur especially in the company he's in. Plus 2 olympic golds and 2 world golds must be special!

Rigondeux is awesome. But Solis is special. Ask David Haye. Haye nailed him early, but then got a real working over. David was still a bit raw, but Solis looked very good indeed.

Interesting topic, i was reading about it in Boxing News today and was going to ask the same q's. Apparently they have been refused into the US and are going to be based in Germany.

Solis is definately the one to watch, how old are the 3 out of interest?

steve689 wrote:Interesting topic, i was reading about it in Boxing News today and was going to ask the same q's. Apparently they have been refused into the US and are going to be based in Germany.

Solis is definately the one to watch, how old are the 3 out of interest?

Heavyweight Odlanier Solis is 26, super bantamweight Yuriorkis Gamboa, 25, and Yan Barthelemy Varela is 27

dve3333 wrote:

steve689 wrote:Interesting topic, i was reading about it in Boxing News today and was going to ask the same q's. Apparently they have been refused into the US and are going to be based in Germany.

Solis is definately the one to watch, how old are the 3 out of interest?

Heavyweight Odlanier Solis is 26, super bantamweight Yuriorkis Gamboa, 25, and Yan Barthelemy Varela is 27

So, that would make them 32, 31 and 33 respectively...

dve3333 wrote: Heavyweight Odlanier Solis is 26, super bantamweight Yuriorkis Gamboa, 25, and Yan Barthelemy Varela is 27

Nope thats their current ages

dve3333 wrote:Just wondering about your thoughts on the acquisition of 3 former amateur Olympic champs from Cuba by Hamburg-based outfit First Artist and Arena. Flyweight Yan Bartelemi, Super Bantamweight Yuriorquis Gamboa and Heavyweight champ Odlanier Solis who was also a double world champ in 2001 and 2003 beating future Shannon Briggs opponent Sultan Ibragimov and knocking out David Haye. They left their hotel while training in Venezuela for the upcoming Pan-American Games and then crossed into Colombia.

Gamboa said he sold his gold medal last year to pay for his 2-year-old daughter's first birthday party.

big ups for the 3 for leaving fascist thug and his lackies to come here...hopefully fidel will be dead soon, but may not do much good if brother takes control!! :(

the story about gamboa selling his gold medal reminds me of what happened with casamayor after 1992 OG!! when joel returned to cuba with gold medal, the generous fascist "rewarded" him with a bicycle---which joel traded for a pig to feed his family!!

let's hope the dying dictator drives a few more top cuban athletes to defection before he dies!!

steve689 wrote:Interesting topic, i was reading about it in Boxing News today and was going to ask the same q's. Apparently they have been refused into the US and are going to be based in Germany.

Solis is definately the one to watch, how old are the 3 out of interest?

they were originally denied entry into usa due to a bureaucratic foulup, but that has been cleared up and they were introduced in miami press conference yesterday...they will have pro debuts in miami in 4-6 weeks and split careers between usa and germany!!

Good to see they are all of decent ages anyway, i was expecting them to be over the 30 mark for certain. This revelation makes me excited at their addition, especially Solis. Odds for him becoming a world champion?

The idea of a 26 year old heavyweight with a fantastic amateur pedigree is exciting.

The only thing which worries me is that amateur boxing is so shit these days, it's almost a bloody non contact sport at times, with the fighters landing single blows then wheeling around the ring to try and avoid being hit in return.

The days when amateur success meant success as a pro was virtually guaranteed is long gone, especially for heavyweights.

Havent we seen too many Cuban pro flops to get excited about these guys this early?

Cant say i follow divisions as low as the first 2, but if Solis is matched and achieved results akin to Povetkin, he may be very interesting. Just imagine, a Cuban wiping out the Eastern European invasion.... as Williams & Skelton and Brock & Guinn cuff around to boring draws in the peripheral.

Povetkin always had a very professional style which has helped him crossover with great results so far..
Solis has a good pro style too, he is certainly no "fencer" like many modern amateurs..

He always had very close fights with Aleksander Alekseev who is now 9-0 as a pro.....so is an interesting guage.

What I dont like and is always the worry with the cubans, is that on the photo of the three of them, they already seemed to have blinged up. Coping with the capitalist lifestyle and freedom will be hard for them....so many tempatations,

Just see the two heavyweight Gonzalez boys as perfect examples,...

I know Jorge, that undisputed king of Could've Been, but who's the other Gonzalez you're referring to?

Brain slow.

overhand_right wrote:I know Jorge, that undisputed king of Could've Been, but who's the other Gonzalez you're referring to?

Brain slow.

Your brain is fine, mine is slow... i of course meant JC Gomez ex cruiserweight champ and party animal!!!

i'm looking forward to see how this odlanier solis gets on.

3 times world amateur champ and an olympic champ.

knockout wrote:

overhand_right wrote:I know Jorge, that undisputed king of Could've Been, but who's the other Gonzalez you're referring to?

Brain slow.

Your brain is fine, mine is slow... i of course meant JC Gomez ex cruiserweight champ and party animal!!!

Yes although, Gomez did win and defend the cruiserweight title, so hardly a waste of talent entirely, but he could have gone on to do a lot more I think, but obviously once he got a bit of money the hunger for fighting dissipated, and the hunger for coke and pussy came into it's own.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:The idea of a 26 year old heavyweight with a fantastic amateur pedigree is exciting.

The only thing which worries me is that amateur boxing is so shit these days, it's almost a bloody non contact sport at times, with the fighters landing single blows then wheeling around the ring to try and avoid being hit in return.

The days when amateur success meant success as a pro was virtually guaranteed is long gone, especially for heavyweights.

yeah it's almost a bit like a game at times.

especially with the 2 minute rds as well.

pro boxing is so different to amateur boxing these days.

jamesmcdonnell wrote: Yes although, Gomez did win and defend the cruiserweight title, so hardly a waste of talent entirely, but he could have gone on to do a lot more I think, but obviously once he got a bit of money the hunger for fighting dissipated, and the hunger for coke and pussy came into it's own.

relative waste of talent :-)

His story reads like Tony Montana

flee cuba, works hard, sees the opportunity for easy money defending against bums, gets a taste for the parties and yayo, fucks everyone who got him to where he was.....

say good night to the bad guy

I remember hearing a story about Jorge Luis Gonzalez that before he fought Riddick Bowe in 95 for his best payday, he had a photo taken with him naked and draped over a flashy car and with wads of cash in his hands.
He then had the photo sent to Fidel!!!!

Is Solis fighting at Heavy or Cruiser?