Sam Soliman: The Man Who Would be King
 By Anthony Cocks, Site Editor (July 16, 2004)
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Sam Soliman
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It’s not often that people get a second chance in life. And in boxing, second chances are even harder to come by.
After losing a disputed 12 round split decision to future WBA super middleweight champion Anthony Mundine in September 2001, Sam Soliman's professional ledger dropped to 12-7. 'King' Soliman had already earned a reputation as a 'have gloves, will travel' type of fighter for his willingness to take on tough opponents on short notice in their backyard in every division from junior middleweight to cruiserweight. It would have been easy for him to slip into the role of overachieving journeyman, but a fortuitous phone call from his future manager Stuart Duncan was destined to alter the course of his career.
"Stuart walked out of the Mundine fight after the decision was read," said Soliman. "He normally comes into the changing room and says 'good fight, you fought well'. He didn't even do that and I was a bit shocked about it. The next day he rings up and says 'Sammy, I've had enough. I'm not going to ever see that happen to you again. Give me a chance and I'll make sure that never happens to you again.' And he did. It's just a dream come true."
Soliman has been on a roll since employing Duncan's services as manager. Reeling off fourteen straight wins including five consecutive stoppages, Soliman has entrenched himself in the IBF top ten and on Sunday afternoon he will battle familiar foe Raymond Joval at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temcula, California for the mandatory contender position at middleweight.
In their first clash in January 2001, Soliman traveled to Joval's native Amsterdam on short notice where he was again the victim of a dubious hometown decision. This time around the fight will be on neutral territory and Soliman is looking to make a statement to the boxing public with a definitive victory over the slick technician.
"His style is that of a perfectionist," explained the 30-year-old Australian. "Everything is neat. The perfect jab. The perfect right hand. The perfect hook. The perfect uppercut. If he has one flat round, he makes up for it the next round. He likes it to be perfect. But that doesn’t bother me because we’ve both got one thing in common there. The only difference is I’m hungrier.
"But I think my style of fighting messes up a textbook fighter. Anyone who knows about boxing knows that an unorthodox fighter is hard to beat. I'm very unorthodox and my unusual style will mess his game up."
Although Soliman is confident he will get his revenge against Joval, he doesn't expect the 35-year-old to make it easy for him.
"He's very good in the sense that he'll throw one or two punches, then throw a combination. Then he'll throw one or two again, then another combination, and maybe throw another combination. So he's very inconsistent when throwing his combinations, which can be tricky because you never know when he's going to turn it on and when he isn't. But the problem he's got now is that I know that. The other problem he's got is that when I fight, it's three hundred punches a round, so if he doesn't up the tempo he's in trouble," he said.
Soliman believes that he has not only been more active since the first Joval fight, but that he has also faced superior competition.
"I don’t think in the seven fights he's had since we fought that he's had any kind of pressure like the pressure I gave him when I fought him. And that's a fact. Unbiased people have said that as well, that he has not been pressured like I pressured him when I fought him. And I'll pressure him a lot more now than I did then, because then I didn't have a manager that was guiding me to a world title of any sort. I didn't have that kind of confidence in myself because I was so busy working on contract, being in another country in his hometown and all that. Now I don't have all that pressure on me," he said.
"Since the Joval and Mundine fights, that was when I met Stuart Duncan. Since then, the pressure came off my shoulders. Fourteen fights later and I haven’t been beat."
Without the distractions that come with being self-managed, Soliman has been able to focus on what he does best. One area of his game that has shown marked improvement is his punching power, and while he will never be mistaken for a knockout artist, Soliman has started to turn over his punches better and his body work has improved dramatically.
"Yeah, definitely," agreed Soliman. "I'm punching with more authority and every punch I throw I'm trying to put some meaning into it. All of my last five opponents, I've been able to wear them down to the body and take them out."
A supremely conditioned athlete whose defensive wizardry is reminiscent of Pernell Whitaker, Soliman believes the relentless pressure he will pour on Joval will render the judges redundant.
"I believe with Joval, because of the last five fights, it won't go to the decision," he said. "I know a lot of fighters say it all the time, just to pump it up or whatever, but I'm not pumping it up. I don't have to pump it up, it's pumped itself up. I've been wanting Joval for a long time anyway, so I don't have to say 'come and watch me knock him out'. But the way I've trained for it, he would have to be incredibly strong to withstand the kind of pressure I'm going to be putting on him. The amount of work I've done for this fight, that if he stands the whole twelve rounds it would be unbelievable."
This fight represents an enormous opportunity for Soliman. It will be the first time he has appeared on US television and an impressive performance will not only give him a mandate to fight the winner of the September mega-match between Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins, but it will also help him raise his profile substantially in the US.
With so much riding on a victory Soliman could be forgiven for being nervous, but be insists the enormity of the occasion won't affect him in the slightest.
"Not at all," he said. "I fought Howard Eastman was for the Commonwealth middleweight title in England. I've fought all over Australia, all over Europe. The excitement is definitely there but the pressure is not, because of the fact that to me Howard Eastman is the best fighter in the middleweight division after Bernard Hopkins."
For thirteen years Soliman and his longtime trainer Dave 'The Rock' Hedgecock have been dreaming about the opportunity to fight for a world title. Now that their shared dream is within reach, neither of them plan on stumbling at the final hurdle.
"I can't wait for the opportunity that’s been given to me by Stuart and Dan Goossen," said Soliman. "Me and Dave have been training together for thirteen years now, and for thirteen years we've been dreaming about it. The shot has come now for the IBF no. 1 contender position and this is what we want. I’m not letting nothing get in the way of it."
Tickets to the Goossen Tutor promoted card are priced at $65, $45 and $35 and are available at the Pechanga Box Office (877-711-2WIN). Fox Sports will televise the fight in the USA on July 25 at 7pm, while Australian fight fans can watch the bout on Fox Sports 1 & Optus Sports 1 on July 30 at 8:30pm.
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