• Submitted by: manso
• Sports
• 03 / 20 / 2011

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By James Slater: WBA heavyweight champ David Haye had an opinion on Cuba’s Odlanier Solis before last night’s fight with WBC king Vitali Kitschko - Haye said, that if the man who defeated him as an amateur was at a good weight he would stand a great chance of winning - and Haye has an opinion on the 30-year-old today. Haye, speaking via his Twitter page, had nothing good to say about Solis; insisting that the excess weight the former Olympian carried into the ring with him in Germany resulted in his embarrassing, 1st-round loss.

“Now that’s why you shouldn’t have excess body fat! A lean 30-year-old athlete shouldn’t have joints/ligament popping for no reason,” Haye wrote today. “He [Solis] beat me ten years ago when he weighed 46-pounds less. He used to be ripped! Why become obese before a huge fight?

“Solis knew how to beat Vit, but years of obesity stopped him from being able to execute. He will unfortunately go down as yet another fat bum.”

Haye does seem to be genuinely disappointed due to Solis’ poor showing. “The Hayemaker” spoke of the Cuban’s skill and talent and gave him a genuine shot at causing the upset going into last night’s fight. Fans are still arguing over whether or not Solis’ knee injury was the real reason for his quick loss, or if the right hand Klitschko landed would have got the job done anyway. Haye clearly feels the unneeded pounds Solis was carrying were a big factor in his swift capitulation.

Fans that want to be on Solis’ side won’t take heart from what has been said about how Solis and his team knew he had a pre-existing knee injury when entering last night’s big, $1.8 million-paying challenge.

Doctors in Germany revealed today that Solis tore his cruciate ligament and also damaged cartilage when he fell to the mat in the opening round. Further tests will reveal whether or not the 30-year-old needs surgery.

However, Solis spokesman Malte Mueller-Michaelis said today that Team-Solis knew the fighter had a knee problem ever before the big fight.

“We knew it, but we didn’t want to let it jeopardise the fight against Vitali,” Michaelis is reported to have said. “His manager Jose Perez knew about the previous problem, but it was thought it would go away if there was enough training and the muscle stabilised the knee.”

Of course, this is not the first time (nor will it be the last) that a fighter and his team have ignored an injury ahead of a lucrative fight/payday. The question fans will now be asking, though, is whether or not Solis should have been advised to pull out of last night’s challenge when he knew he had an issue with his knee.

Source: www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=27419&more=1