Who was best Cuban heavyweight all time? I know Gomez much better in cruiser than heavyweight and Eliseo fought in cruiser many times
Odlanier Solis is the number 1. Like Luis Ortiz, he fought and lost fighting for the WBC title. In terms of wins there is not much of a difference between them. Therefore, its based on who you think was the better fighter and I think Solis was slightly more skilled.
Yeah but Solis lose two times Tony Thompson and Ortiz beat Thompson. In amateurs Solis beat Ortiz two or three times but in pro LO had a better resume .
Very good thread. A quality question. I would refrain from answering, since Frank Sanchez is not done yet, but an honorable vote has to go to Nino, who stepped into the ring with: Archie Moore (x2), Ezzard Charles, Harold Johnson, Eddie Machen (x2), Zora Folley, and finally the dreaded bear Sonny Liston.
Both mediocre as pro's - Ortiz far more hyped. Solis at least had a great amateur pedigree - Ortiz not so much.
If only the Savon's entered the professional ranks. I know amateurs doesn't say much but I would bet a lot of money that the Savon's were much better than all these guys. I'd say Ortiz if I had to pick off that liat.
I'd say Solis. His pro accomplishments are thin but so are every other Cuban pro heavyweights. Solis beat Ortiz in the amateurs 5 times and looking at the scoring on boxrec none of them were close fights. I can't see an argument for Ortiz ranking higher even as a pro given their very one sided history in the amateurs.
I was looking forward to some kind of Haye-Solis fight in the pro ranks. Didn't come about unfortunately.
Ortiz emphatically beat a top five contender and gave a champion two tough fights, plus washed Thompson who beat Solis twice. We aren't talking about the ams.
Ortiz, if he only had 20 more seconds in the 7th round in the first Wilder fight he would have stopped him and become WBC champion, that last punch had Wilder bobbing back and forth, he would have gotten knocked out cold with a few more hooks. Very unfortunate for him.