During Ulises Solis' first attempt at a world title in July 2004 he was beaten on a close majority decision by Nelson Dieppa. Just three fights after that loss he picked up the IBF light flyweight title.
Solis defended that title nine times before losing by knockout to Brian Viloria. He had to rebuild his career again and did so by winning four fights. He got another crack at the belt he once owned, this time against Luis Alberto Lazarte from Argentina but got a draw, but in an immediate rematch he pulled off a split decision win to become champion again.
A fight with WBA champion Roman Gonzalez could be on the cards for Ulises Solis
Last weekend Solis was making his first defence of the belt against Jether Oliva from the Phillipines. Oliva was undefeated at 17-0 with one draw and 11 knockouts but he wasn't highly ranked in the IBF and hadn't really fought anybody to get his shot. This was his first fight out of the Philippines and was six years the junior of 30-year-old Solis.
In previous fights Solis had been dropped by being reckless but in this bout he was controlled and calm and there were no knockdowns.
Wayne McCullough
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The fight took place in Solis' home city of Guadalajara, Mexico. Sometimes Solis tends to make fights harder for himself than they should be but in this case he didn't.
Inexperienced
Oliva was a lesser challenger than most in the ratings and was totally inexperienced at world level but he gave it a go. He pushed Solis for most of the fight, landing some left hooks to his opponent's head. He would leave himself open for body shots which Solis was happy to counter with.
Solis made the fight easy for himself by stepping out of punch range and would then step in with good left jabs and rights that were scoring and easily winning the fight for him. He showed better defence than in other fights and also showed Oliva that he was a level above him.
In previous fights Solis had been dropped by being reckless but in this bout he was controlled and calm and there were no knockdowns. Oliva tried up until the final bell but he was really never in the fight.
Solis picked up a unanimous decision win with scores of 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110. It was an easy win in a non-competitive fight. He said afterwards that he would like a unification fight with Nicaraguan WBA champion Roman Gonzalez, who is scheduled to fight on October 1 in Las Vegas.
No opponent has been finalised as yet so maybe Solis can step in as he is still fresh from this easy defence. That would be a great match-up as Gonzalez is undefeated at 29-0 and it may give these little men more recognition, as they rarely get any.
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