By Bradley Yeh (photo by Dave Wellings)

Sam Soliman (WBA Number 3) is currently training the house down in preparation for his upcoming Middleweight fight with Enrique Ornelas. This fight will be held at the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California, this coming weekend, November 17, 2006, and there's many reasons why boxing purists shouldn’t miss this fight.  

Many readers will remember the much-avoided Sam Solimon in his last outing, where Sam fought a very fast paced and close battle with defensive wizard Winky Wright. In that fight (a Winky promotion) Soliman threw more than 1200 punches for the entire fight, for Winky Wrights 652 punch output.

Sure punch statistics don’t mean everything, and no-one, (this journalist included) doubts the greatness of Wright. Nor do we doubt Wright’s accuracy. But still the facts remain; Wright won the decision, but Solimon did not miss 50% of his punches.

That’s right, I said “did not miss”…

Solimon didn’t miss, or land on Wright’s gloves, at a percentage near that which would be required for the decision not to be eyebrow raising amongst those that truly know what actions inside a boxing ring directly correlate with the subjective vocation of scoring fights for an objective decision.

Pause for a second, chin rested on your hand like a thinking white renaissance era sculptured statue. You do the simple math and make your on mind up on that.

That’s Wright.

That’s OK, it’s in the past and Soliman is used to doing it tough. The toughness and hard knocks have shaped him to become what he now is, a virtual non-stop punching machine.

What should be noted is, that not many fighters have the work ethic, class and style that Soliman possess. Fans that may have missed the Soliman V Wright fight are in for another opportunity to view Soliman’s cyclonic performance again, as this weekend, the same exhibition of skill, relentless attacking, and, precision evasion, timing and accuracy will again be on display when the Melbourne based Australian steps up to the plate against the tough Californian based, Mexican hombre Enrique Ornelas.

By all accounts Sam “King” Soliman’s upcoming fight with Ornelas should be full of all the ingredients reminiscent of a short fused firecracker spontaneously combusting within a chemistry lab.

Regardless of Soliman’s potential, the danger is still real, as Ornelas, from Mexico is 27 fights, with 25 wins, 15 early nights (won by KO), and only 2 losses. He likes to come forward and is trained by former world champion Irish Wayne Muculloch, (who himself had no problem coming forward and delivering). Amongst other things, Ornelas is touted to have some power coming into this contest….. and that’s a good thing because fans are really in for a treat if Ornelas proceeds forward to centre ring against Solimon, looking to deposit right hands and left hooks early with serious intentions.

Should that happen, should Ornelas feel that because he has stopped a common opponent (in Raul Munoz) earlier than Soliman has, that Soliman therefore has less capacity when exchanging power - Ornelas will play directly into Sam’s strength zone and the fuse inside the chemistry lab will indeed be lit. If Ornelas looks for an early night against the “King” Sam Solimon, that is precisely the kind of plan that could have dire consequences for its maker, whilst also providing a luminous stage for those observers unfamiliar with Solimon’s brilliant artistry.

To elaborate, Sam Soliman has more angles than a geometry set and put simply, Solimon loves the options available to him when his opponents are confident and commit. But it’s the fans and spectators that will really be in for a display of awesome and skilful punching should Ornelas come forward as he did with his last opponent Raul Munoz - who by the way was disposed of by Ornelas in the first round. This is because Sam Soliman has a very proficient and unconventional boxing style, and he’s mastered it to a tee. Watching Solimon in full flight is as good for spectators as it is uncomfortable for those who find themselves in the other corner across from the Australian “king”.

Either way, whether Ornelas is attacking or not, Solimon will respond to any such offensive manoeuvre with an array of combustible combinations to set the show on fire. Believe me.

But if you don’t……

Just ask former WBO, WBC, & IBF Champion Winky Wright.

The common opponent in question for Sam and Ornelas is Raul Munoz. Now, Munoz became a common opponent because he was penned to fight ex-world champion Vernon Forrest earlier this year. Forrest became unable to make the date and then Solimon was then asked to fill in for Forrest and fight Munoz. With a few weeks notice Sam Solimon met Munoz on a Californian canvass and Munoz was swiftly stopped inside 6 rounds.

That all happened March this year. After that, later in August, this year, Ornelas then stepped in to the ring with Munoz, (after Soliman had stole his soul in 6), and Munoz got caught cold in the first round by Ornelas.

So Ornelas has the killer instinct necessary to advance into serious contention. But he must get past Solimon. The Munoz victory not only left Ornelas with a successful early night, but the right people also started to take notice. From there Ornelas further developed the potential to believe in his strengths, to the point where he views them to be above those of Solimans. Ornelas therefore agreed to fight Sam Solimon.

Whether, from the common opponent in Munoz, you believe Ornelas to have the edge in power or not to Sam Soliman, Ornelas presents as a solid tall fighter with a good chin, and a healthy KO percentage. That’s OK, but by most accounts Ornelas really hasn’t fought someone of Sam Solimon’s calibre yet. Nor his style. And Soliman certainly isn’t coming to lay down. Not after the Wright match.

Solimon is probably one of Australia’s toughest and most conditioned fighters. He has recently proclaimed that he will now ensure to his best ability that his fights are not left to the judges discretion anymore – which is more good news for fans of Sam’s explosive and unique style. This announcement came about after Soliman showered punches and dominated Winky Wright for the entire fight but received a controversial loss.

There's good reason to believe that Solimon can improve and perform in the claimed manner, as prior to the Wright fight Soliman experienced weight problems that presented him underweight and limiting his power capabilities for his contest with Winky. These problems were verified by the scales and recorded by the authorities, so it’s not just post fight sombreness.

Soliman has now moved on from that Mohegan Sun Winky aberration though - not being one to dwell or look back.

But a point, perhaps of value to the hardcore boxing followers, is that there will be no such weight or associated limiting strength concerns for the “King” next weekend against Ornelas. No, this time respected Dave Hedgecock (Soliman’s trainer) and Soliman have addressed the dietary origin of the weight issue that depleted Soliman’s strength in his last Uncasville outing against Winky.

You don’t need to be a genius to evaluate that when you're as hard to hit, and have a punch output like Solimon’s, and, if you're already enough for a guy like Winky to be surprised, then any improvements in Soliman’s strength is going to have a devastating effect. That’s the logical conclusion and a safe extension of that logic is that Ornales will accommodate the same notion.

In the fight game, as ironical as it sounds, your opportunities sometimes come around slower than they should if you're better than most. That thoughtful consideration could never be more true than with Soliman.

Sam Soliman has campaigned all over the world as a high calibre fighter, he’s taken fights on short notice, travelled to opponents back yards and regularly delivered the upset. In turn this has earned him the label of a high-risk fighter, and an example of this is in 2004 when the legendary Bernard Hopkins opted to fight Robert Allen (whom he had already beaten) rather than face the higher rated Soliman. This option was most likely exercised because Soliman presents a puzzle with his unconventional technique and supreme fitness. Hopkins was seeking a record amount of successful defences at the time.

Hopkins is no fool, and the smart money is that he knew; if you haven’t worked Soliman out by round 5, chances are you may loose.

In 2001 Soliman returned from campaigning in England to Australia and fought Anthony Mundine on a few weeks notice. Unfortunately Soliman lost that fight but almost everyone at ringside had him winning. However (like the Wright fight), the Mundine fight was also promoted by Solimon’s opponent at the time - Mundine. Mundine is still a respected and dominant fighter in Australia, but anyone present at ringside that night Mundine’s hand was raised against Solimon could clearly see from the expression on Anthony’s face that even “the Man” knew the decision didn’t look good.

Knowing that he had really won the fight against Mundine in 2001 but had not received the official decision, Soliman did what any true champion would do, he extracted honour from the experience and went on to bigger and better things. Soliman then proceeded to win19 fights straight, with 8 by KO. Currently, from his last 12 fights, the punching machine that is Sam “King” Solimon has won 75% of those 12 fights by KO. That’s 9 KO’s from 12.

Should Soliman be successful against Ornales, a rematch with Mundine would be a hotly anticipated fight.

Soliman has a strong team behind him in trainer Hedgecock, promoter Dan Goosen, and manager Stuart Duncan (http://www.dmsboxing.com.au). Soliman’s record currently stands at 40 fights for 32 wins, 13 wins by KO, with only 8 losses. It’s strong and a deceptive record, in that almost all of the 8 losses are very controversial losses that would have not normally have occurred for most fighters - solely because Soliman takes chances that other fighters don’t by travelling to their homeland and fighting ranked contenders on very short notice. Boxing’s hard enough as it is for most other competitors to consider doing that.

Regardless of these obstacles Soliman has defeated fighters such as Saiko Bika (Bika recently gave the legend Calzaghe a 12 round war), Ray Joval, Jose Clavero, Miguel Julio, and the Australian warrior Nader Hamden, who was 32 & 0 at the time.

Taking fights on short notice has always meant that Soliman rarely experiences the time normally required to prepare for a fight. But this time there's a fresh feeling in the Soliman camp because things are a little different now. Prior to this upcoming fight with Ornelas Sam has sparred the likes of Mikkel Kessler, Danny Green & Australian tough-man Paul Briggs. That’s not a bad start to your preparation.

The wire from Australia is that Soliman’s on fire and may just detonate this weekend in devastating form.

Currently Soliman is at Freddie Roaches famous LA Gym in preparation for the next big thing this weekend, which is Enrique Ornelas. Word has it that the “King” is swapping leather with a full suite of tough and experienced fighters at the Wild Card gym, and doing it with speed and style.

By all accounts Soliman is training the house down, sparring well and ready to make another explosive move on the USA scene.

The preparation and the waiting has all paid off.

The time is now for Sam Soliman.

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