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By Thomas Gerbasi - This should be Sam Soliman’s victory lap. One of boxing’s good guys, a fighter who always came up just short when he needed the big win, the Melbourne native finally put world championship gold around his waist in May when he traveled to Germany to beat Felix Strum for the IBF middleweight crown.
At 40, “King” Sam had the belt he craved for all these years, from his time battling his way through the local Australian scene, to a stint on the reality series The Contender, and after several near misses in pivotal fights.
Already a star at home, he could have walked off into the sunset with a championship belt and a ten-fight, six-year winning streak. But the way Soliman looks at it, there’s still unfinished business for him between the ropes.
“My favorite fighters in the world - Pernell Whitaker, my favorite pound-for-pound ever, and Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali - they’ve all done the same thing that I want to do, and that’s defend the title,” he said. “You’re going in as champion, defending something that someone is hungry for. In doing that, it’s another huge step. People say ‘you won the title, what’s in it for you now?’ For me, it’s being able to beat someone who wants to take what you’ve got.”
The one trying to take what he’s got this Wednesday night is a familiar face: former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. Yet in the lead-up to the ESPN-televised bout, Soliman has been placed in a position where he’s almost had to defend the fight more than prepare for it, as there are several questions about it, all revolving around Taylor. [Click Here To Read More]
At 40, “King” Sam had the belt he craved for all these years, from his time battling his way through the local Australian scene, to a stint on the reality series The Contender, and after several near misses in pivotal fights.
Already a star at home, he could have walked off into the sunset with a championship belt and a ten-fight, six-year winning streak. But the way Soliman looks at it, there’s still unfinished business for him between the ropes.
“My favorite fighters in the world - Pernell Whitaker, my favorite pound-for-pound ever, and Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali - they’ve all done the same thing that I want to do, and that’s defend the title,” he said. “You’re going in as champion, defending something that someone is hungry for. In doing that, it’s another huge step. People say ‘you won the title, what’s in it for you now?’ For me, it’s being able to beat someone who wants to take what you’ve got.”
The one trying to take what he’s got this Wednesday night is a familiar face: former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. Yet in the lead-up to the ESPN-televised bout, Soliman has been placed in a position where he’s almost had to defend the fight more than prepare for it, as there are several questions about it, all revolving around Taylor. [Click Here To Read More]
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