Canelo: It Was My Brother; Photos of Solis' Injuries
By Miguel Rivera
WBC 154-pound champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez confirms that he was present when Archie Solis, the IBF's 108-pound champion, was battered and suffered multiple injuries, but he wasn't the individual who attacked him. Alvarez told Mexican reporter Sal Rodriguez that one of his brothers attacked Solis. Rodriguez snapped some shots of Solis' injuries.
"It's not true at all. [The fight] wasn't with me. It was with one of my brothers, but not with me. I was there. I just want to clarify that it's not true," Alvarez said.
According to Solis - Alvarez confronted him at a local running ground in Guadalajara, Mexico, where both of them were training. He says Alvarez accused him of messing around with his girlfriend, and then attacked him with multiple punches.
Solis suffered a broken jaw and a broken tooth. He will undergo surgery later tonight and a planned defense in December is obviously going to be canceled.
"I ran into Alvarez when I finished training. Suddenly he began to claim a lot of things. He asked, 'why are you with my woman?'. I told him that I didn't know what he was talking about and then without warning he hit me with a left and right cross. I went back and then he threw a couple of more punches, one hit me in the temple and one to my chest. I wanted it to stop," Solis said.
Solis' brother ran to his aid and quickly took him to a hospital. They also filed a report with the local authorities.
In an earlier report , Solis' promoter, Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions, advised BoxingScene that a criminal case, and a civil suit for damages, will be pursued against Alvarez.
"There will be criminal charges. It's sad because Canelo is denying everything. Finally he fought a good fighter, except it took place in the street. I think Canelo went over to Archie because of something he said about him. The version we have is the version of Archie Solis. He said that Canelo came to him and said 'I was looking for you **** and you ****.' Then he pushed him. And then he started attacking him with punches. He broke his jaw and broke a tooth. He's going to have surgery later tonight," Beltran told BoxingScene.com.
"It's sad because this sport has a lot of issues, and Canelo is a good prospect and a lot of people talk about him, and we don't need this with a guy like him attacking a good little champion at 108. And by the way, it was a technical knockout because [Canelo] couldn't drop [Solis]. Canelo is denying everything. I have the version of Archie Solis. Everyone, the Mexican press, is at the hospital with Archie."
"We are going to put out the pictures of his jaw and there were four witnesses there. He's going to proceed with a lawsuit because it's not fair. He had a fight scheduled for December and now his year is over. Maybe it's the end of his career? Who knows if he can fight again? It's sad that a champion at 154-pounds would do this to another champion at 108."