Liborio Solis: I Beat Jamie McDonnell By Two To Three Points

By Ben Jacobs

Arriving back in his adopted land of Panama this week, Liborio Solís is remarkably philosophical when talking to BoxingScene.com about his controversial defeat to Jamie McDonnell last Saturday in Monte Carlo.  The Venezuelan appeared to many to have done enough to take the WBA bantamweight title from the Doncaster fighter, but the judges ruled otherwise.

“I feel I won by at least two or three points,” Solís claimed.

“I was expecting them to announce me as the new champion but when they said he won, I just remained calm.  I knew that I had won and that’s what everyone is saying, including the English press.  I have a clear conscience and I beat him on European territory.

“Maybe they wanted to keep him as the champion, only God knows what happened but it happened and it’s an irreversible decision. 

“What I hope for is a rematch or at least for everyone to realise that I’m the champion, not him.  I do feel though it was incompetence by the judges.”

Online opinion seems to fall largely into the camp of a win for Solís.  In addition, Sky Sports’ commentary team of which WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew was part of also saw a victory for the South American.  However, McDonnell expressed his view that he was the rightful winner and subsequent to the bout some others also feel the Englishman did enough.  Were there any words exchanged between the two men after the fight?

“Before the decision was announced he said something to me but as I don’t speak English I didn’t really understand,” Liborio confessed.  “But he and his team had a defeated look on his face, only before the announcement was made.

“I dominated the first seven or eight rounds but he did come back and he showed some pride in the last few,” he continued. 

“But his weaknesses are evident, when you put pressure on him or don’t allow him to have his distance he shows flaws.  If I fight him again I will beat him again because when you attack him he doesn’t know what to do.

“As a person I can say he is a nice guy, you could tell that from how he conducted himself.”