Liborio Solis is very confident that he will knock off former world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux when they collide on February 8th. They will battle for the vacant WBA title at 118-pounds.
The bout will be part of the Showtime televised tripleheader, which is headlined by WBC featherweight world champion Gary Russell Jr. making a mandatory defense against challenger Tugstsogt "King Tug" Nyambayar.
The card will happen at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania headlining a Premier Boxing Champions event.
Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs), a two-time Olympic gold medalist for his native Cuba, is coming off an exciting eighth-round stoppage of former champion Julio Ceja in June.
Solís (30-5-1, 14 KOs) will make his U.S. debut while riding a five-fight winning streak. Solís captured a super flyweight world title in 2013 amidst a 14-bout unbeaten run.
Rigondeaux has long been known to be a fighter who stays on the move and rarely stays in place to trade punches.
But in his last fight with Ceja, it was a different Rigondeaux who often stood his ground to trade shots with a big puncher in Ceja, and that created one of the most exciting fights in the Cuban boxer's career.
Solis watched the fight and likes what he witnessed, but cautions that he will put Rigondeaux down is he stops to trade.
“We're going in there with a positive state of mind. I sensed that this fight was coming because Rigondeaux has been ranked at number two for a long time. I fight with the best, with whatever and with whoever comes my way. Let's go in there to trade leather and let's go,” said Solis.
“I've seen him fight several times. I know that he is usually running, although lately he's been stopping [his movement]... and if he stops to fight he will hit the canvas."