Previously undefeated Jether Oliva had the courage but not the skills and experience to nail a world championship as yet.
The 24-year-old Filipino, fighting in a heavier division on a four week’s notice, absorbed a unanimous decision loss to veteran Ulises Solis, who kept his IBF junior flyweight title in Guadalajara, Mexico, Saturday.
The scorecards didn’t quite reflect the game challenge posed by the Filipino, who shook the Mexican champ with his left hook a few times and was early aggressor.
One judge scored a 120-108 shutout. Another judge gave Oliva two rounds in a 118-110 verdict while the third gave the Filipino one round in a 119-109 count.
Oliva, fighting for the first time abroad, dropped to 17-1-1 with 11 knockouts while Solis, 29, improved to 34-2-3 with 21 KOs.
Solis was making the first defense of the title he regained in a rematch with Argentina’s Luis Alberto Lazarte last April.