SAM SOLIMAN DEFEATS RAYMOND JOVAL - NEWS ARTICLES

PHOTO GALLERY

KING SAM'S GOOD INTENTIONS

SAM SOLIMAN WANTS JERMAIN TAYLOR

SOLIMAN JOINS THE BIG LEAGUE [Melbourne Age]

SAM PUNCHES HIS WAY TO BIG TIME
[Grantlee Kieza - ringside at Pechanga]

SOLIMAN CALLS FOR HOPKINS
[Ryan Finley - NCTimes]

SOLIMAN, JOHNSON WIN [Fight News]

GLOBAL COVERAGE
See what the world is sayin

"It wasn't even close. Australia's Sam Soliman is the new IBF No.1 middleweight contender after defeating Raymond Joval on points over 12 rounds in their rematch an hour ago in California, USA. Soliman dominated the fight and had Joval down twice. One ruled a slip by the referee.

"It was Sam's greatest win," said manager Stuart Duncan from ringside moments after the points win was announced. "Sam was on fire tonight and just blew Joval away." The September 18 superfight winner of Bernard Hopkins vs. Oscar De La Hoya must now face Soliman by March 5, 2005 or be stripped of the title. Fox Sports 1 Australia will televise the Soliman-Joval fight at 8.30pm AEST on Friday 30th July 2004.
Paul Upham.   Photo by Craig Woodward

FROM AN ARTICLE BY JAMES McDONNELL - MAX BOXING
SOLIMAN STEALS A MARCH ON FORMER CONQUEROR EASTMAN.

"....Sam Soliman, has now secured himself his status as the IBF #1 contender, after beating highly regarded Raymond Joval in impressive fashion, dropping Joval in round four on the way to a 12 round unanimous decision. Joval had beaten Soliman in their previous encounter.

Sam Soliman, an Australian of Egyptian extraction, has come on leaps and bounds after an indifferent early career, when he was poorly moved, and often took short notice fights, has learnt his trade the hard way, and now looks like he might get a future challenge against champion Bernard Hopkins if whispers are to be believed.

It’s rumoured that HBO are interested in a clash between Jermain Taylor and Soliman, with the winner getting a crack at Hopkins, provided he gets past Oscar.

It shows the merits of keeping busy and taking opportunities when they come along....."

READ FULL ARTICLE BY JAMES McDOONNELL

Soliman’s manager Stuart Duncan said the timing is perfect as we have positioned and conditioned Sam in preparation for him to start mixing it up with the best in the division. “He is on a roll winning his last 11 outings and rated in the top 10 with the WBC and IBF”. Sam has fought all over the world taking on some of the best and has never been stopped, he has a chin of granite and is capable of putting Bernard Hopkins in a spin with his angles and awkward style of attack. I have had him in camp with Roger Bloodworth and fellow Aussie Bomber Peden who is preparing for his upcoming battle with Nate Campbell said Duncan.

Sam has been calling out to Hopkins – Allen – Eastman – Schenk to no avail for the last 12 months. Two who wont step up will be Joval or Eastman who Sam travelled and fought loosing narrowly on their home turf back in 2000 & 2001. They know Sam who is on a 11 fight winning streak is way to dangerous. We’ll work our way into the number one position and then there’ll be no ducking him . Soliman is already Champ of the World “were just waiting our turn to make it official” said a confident Duncan.
He is set to fight Sth American Middleweight Champ Jorge Sclarandi in Penrith NSW next week and will be fighting again next month in Melbourne. We are also considering travelling to Japan where he fought twice last year to defend his OPBF Title in May or June. This will depend on what Dan has in his schedule. This will be his 4th fight for 2004 making him the most active world rated 160 pounder in the ratings. We will only need 2 fights in the second half of the year and they will most likely be in the USA.

Aligning him with Dan Goossen who has a proven history at making the big fights happen further strengthens the relationship between Duncans Fightbiz International and Goossen Tutor Promotions. Fightbiz already has world rated Lovemore Ndou with GTP and is looking at aligning Super Middleweight Nader Hamden 34-1 also.

Sam has been calling out to Hopkins – Allen – Eastman – Schenk to no avail for the last 12 months. Two who wont step up will be Joval or Eastman who Sam travelled and fought loosing narrowly on their home turf back in 2000 & 2001. They know Sam who is on a 11 fight winning streak is way to dangerous. We’ll work our way into the number one position and then there’ll be no ducking him . Soliman is already Champ of the World “were just waiting our turn to make it official” said a confident Duncan.

He is set to fight Sth American Middleweight Champ Jorge Sclarandi in Penrith NSW next week and will be fighting again next month in Melbourne. We are also considering travelling to Japan where he fought twice last year to defend his OPBF Title in May or June. This will depend on what Dan has in his schedule. This will be his 4th fight for 2004 making him the most active world rated 160 pounder in the ratings. We will only need 2 fights in the second half of the year and they will most likely be in the USA

Enquiries contact Manager :

IBF No.5 Sam Soliman recorded a perfect one punch first round knockout of Argentine Juan Carlos Lettieri in the main event of a Talentworks/Blaster Promotions card on Friday night at the Panthers World of Entertainment in Western Sydney, Australia... MORE [Paul Upham-Seconds Out]

SMH Report [included in IBF Article]

EARLY NIGHT FOR "KING" SOLIMAN
[Zelky Vlahovich-Boxing Central]

SAM SOLIMAN PLANS A BIG 2004
Anthony J Cocks-DOGHOUSE

By Paul Upham in Tokyo, Japan: OPBF middleweight champion “King” Sam Soliman, 21-7 (4), completely dominated local favorite Satoru Suzuki, 20-5 (13), in successfully defending his title with a unanimous 12 round points decision on Saturday night at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan in front of a sell-out crowd.

“What a champion Suzuki is,” said Soliman after the win. “He is a very smart boxer, he hits and does not get hit. He stood still more with his other opponents, but with me he used his brains. My fitness is what beat him, but if I wasn’t fit, it would have been a much harder fight because just skills was not enough to beat Satoru tonight.”

From the early rounds Suzuki seemed to be intimidated by Soliman’s speed and unusual flashing style. The Japanese fighter was slow and looping his punches, pawing at times and only using them as a range finder rather than as two weapons to slow the Australian down. The Japanese judge scored the fight 119-109. The Australian judge scored 119-107 and the Korean scoring referee carded 119-108, all for Soliman. SecondsOut scored the fight for Soliman 119-107.

The Australian won every round on two judges scorecards, only losing a point deducted by the referee in the 9th round for swinging his head wildly. There was an incident in the 8th round where an exchange saw a bad cut open above the left eye of Suzuki. There was no initial indication from the referee as to the cause of the cut, though Suzuki claimed it was a head butt. The referee then told the officials at the end of the round that it was an accidental head clash.

Midway through the 11th round, Soliman landed a great right hook and it knocked Suzuki’s mouth guard out of his mouth. It flew over the ropes, bounced off the head of one of the Japanese officials at ringside and landed in the second row of seating.

Shortly after, Satoru went down from an alleged low blow and was given a number of minutes to recover. Suzuki suffered a cut above his left eye during the 4th round and from that point on seemed only to be looking for one big punch to end the fight and was being outworked by Soliman on the inside. The strong Soliman left hook was doing most of the damage with Suzuki failing to make use of his considerable height and reach advantage.

There was a beautiful scoring five-punch combination early in round 6, but too his credit, Satoru came back with his best right hand of the fight, which stung Soliman and had the crowd cheering. Suzuki seemed to be a beaten man going into the last round and Soliman completed dominated and looked at one stage to be close to stopping his courageous opponent, whose face by this time was a battered and swollen mess.

“When I had Suzuki hurt I was worried he might step back and hit me with the right hand,” said Soliman.

His trainer Dave “The Rock” Hedgecock, while pleased with his charge’s win, can still see some areas of improvement that need work.

“Sam put in his usual outstanding performance, though, I don’t think it was one of his best,” he said. “For once he wasn’t listening to what I asked him in the corner, but when he did listen, it worked and landed every time. Sam is Sam and he is the one out there doing the fighting and he has to be able to read things for himself, but you need to listen to your corner. But how can I complain? He dominated every round and we’d be happy to come back to Japan any time. In fact, I’m happy for him to fight anyone, anyplace, anytime.”

With his 9th straight win under his belt, the IBF No.9 and WBC No.10 Soliman is now targeting IBF No.1 middleweight Robert Allen.

“Robert Allen has already backed out once,” claimed Soliman’s manager Stuart Duncan.

“I want Robert Allen in the ring, but of course I would much prefer to face Bernard Hopkins, but I know he would not take on a risky fight like myself,” added Soliman.

The 29 year-old is also willing to come back to Japan to defend his OPBF title.

“I want Yoshinori Araki (WBC No.24), he is on my hit list,” said Soliman. “I love Japan and of course I’ll come back. Japan has treated me well, the promoter has treated me well and I’ve had a really good time while I was here. Thanks to Joe Koizumi, my manager Stuart Duncan who has made this all happen and my trainer Dave Hedgecock who has given me all the tools to allow me to fight like this. I thank my mother and father and of course the Lord Jesus Christ, he’s always in my corner.”

While he is not the most graceful man in the ring, Soliman is always extremely effective and proved once again that his style works. It takes a very good performance to come to Japan and win almost unanimously every round on each judge’s scorecard against a good fighter like 27 year-old Satoru Suzuki.

“Sam Soliman is such a tricky fighter,” said Joe Koizumi, the great matchmaker and everything man of Asian boxing. “He is a very good middleweight and a worthy OPBF champion.”

MORE............http://www.secondsout.com/world/news_55088.asp

"King" SAM SOLIMAN vs. SATORU SUZUKI
Saturday 1st November 2003: Tokyo, Japan

OPBF/IBF Pan Pacific middleweight champion “King” Sam Soliman wants to get undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins into the ring with the world titles on the line and he will take fights any where and any time in an effort to do so.

This Saturday night 29 year-old Sam Soliman 20-7 (4 KO's) who is rated No.10 by the WBC and IBF and who has won his last eight fights, takes on former Japanese middleweight champion 27 year-old Satoru Suzuki 20-4 (13 KO's) over twelve rounds in Tokyo, Japan.

“His record speaks for itself and with his string of title defenses it means he can fight,” Soliman said of Suzuki. “Another thing I noticed was when I told some of the locals that I was fighting Satoru Suzuki, their eyes would light up. When they treat him with that calibre of reputation it makes it more exciting for me.”

“The land of the rising sun is going to see darkness when Sam Soliman steps into the ring on Saturday night and belts Satoru Suzuki into submission,” said Soliman's trainer Dave "the Rock" Hedgecock. “I think he will take Suzuki totally off track.”

Sam Soliman is available for telephone interviews at the Tokyo Dome Hotel in Japan and can be contacted on + 81 3 5805 2111 - Room 918 or by email King_SamSoliman@optusnet.com.au. 81 is the country code for Japan.

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Sam “King” Soliman today returned from Japan bringing home with him the OPBF Middleweight Title with a win against Japanese Champion Tokaturo Toyozumi. I always knew it was going to be hard going over there to take him on said Sam, “He’s a hard hitting big middleweight who loves to come forward”. “It took me the first two rounds to work him out, and I handled him comfortably from there on in”. This win hopefully will place Sam inside the top 10 with the WBC where he is already rated # 13. Already inside the top 10 with the IBF and current Pan Pacific Champion , Sams chances of getting a World Title shot are now a distinct possibility sometime in 2004.

Sam can be considered now as a non mandatory World Title challenger, however the Champ in both is Bernard Hopkins who is going to most likely move up and ties up the Title until he decides. Solimans Manager Stuart Duncan intends to keep his boxer active having him scheduled to defend both his IBF & OPBF Titles again in October with one more possible defense in November. Wins on both of these occasions could see Sam sitting closer to # 5 in both.

I am negotiating with a couple of Promoters in the USA at the moment to secure a 3 fight promotional contract to kick Sam on in 2004, hopefully one of these 3 will be for a world title. We desperately wanted to fight Hopkins having declared ourselves available, to get no response. We will fight Hopkins with 30 days notice and do it for next to nothing said Duncan. All I can say is think yourself lucky Bernard, if you did hop in with Sam your days as Middleweight Supremo were over !
Photo © Craig Waller 2003

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By Joe Koizumi

WBC #13 ranked Australian Sam Soliman (19-7, 4 KOs), 160, captured the OPBF middleweight belt as he proved too strong and skillful for Japanese defending champ Tokutaro Toyozumi (14-3-3, 6 KOs), 158, to win a one-sided split decision over twelve rounds on Sunday afternoon in Kumamoto, Japan. Scored: 119-110 and 118-113 for Soliman, and shameful 116-114 for Toyozumi. They fought on even terms in the first three rounds, but Soliman swept all rounds from the fourth on, going forward to attack the lefty champ who was forced to backpedal and repeat clinches to avert the Aussie¡Çs aggression. Soliman, who had recently beat world-rated ex-OPBF 154-pound champ Nader Hamdan to be ranked by the WBC, was a technically superior and more aggressive boxer who obviously deserved a victory. Undercard: Hisoka Kudo, 129.75, was awarded a technical decision over Filipino Jaime Barcelona, 128.75, at 1:11 of the seventh round.
Promoter: Honda Fitness Promotions.
Monday, September 8 2003
http://www.fightnews.com/

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September 7, 2003

Sam Soliman celebrated a convincing win over Takuturo Toyozumi in Japan today, and a new title to add to the collection.

Manager Stuart Duncan is confident that the win will place Soliman inside the WBC top ten rankings, creating more opportunties for Sam to continue his success through to a world title.

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More from Paul Upham at SECONDS OUT - voted #1 British Boxing site 2003!

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