| Sam Soliman | |
| Nickname: | King |
| Height: | 5 ft 9 in[1] |
| Reach: | 71+1/2 in |
| Weight: | |
| Birth Date: | 1973 11, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 71 |
| Wins: | 49 |
| Ko: | 19 |
| Losses: | 19 |
| Draws: | 1 |
| No Contests: | 1 |
Sam Soliman (born 13 November 1973) is an Australian professional boxer, and former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. In boxing, he held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) middleweight title in 2014, becoming the oldest middleweight world champion in history at the time.[2]
Soliman is a former world champion in kickboxing, and also competed in Muay Thai.[3] [4]
Soliman made his professional boxing debut on 20 April 1997, defeating Heath Stenton by four-round unanimous decision (UD). In the first half of his career he won a multitude of regional titles, from light-middleweight to cruiserweight. He won the vacant Commonwealth middleweight title on 19 June 2000, scoring a ninth-round stoppage over Neville Brown. This reign was short-lived, as Soliman would lose a points decision to Howard Eastman a few months later on 16 September. His first world championship opportunity came on 7 March 2007, against Anthony Mundine for the vacant WBA super-middleweight title in an all-Australian showdown. After four knockdowns, Soliman lost by knockout in round nine.[5] Later in the year, on 6 November, he finished third in the Contender series by defeating Wayne Johnsen by six-round UD.[6] In a rematch against Mundine on 28 May 2008, this time with Mundine as defending champion, Soliman lost by UD.[7]
The pinnacle of Soliman's career was on 31 May 2014, when he defeated multiple-time world champion Felix Sturm by UD to win the IBF middleweight title.[8] They had previously fought on 1 February 2013, which was a fight marred afterwards by a drawn-out legal battle which took more than three years to resolve. Soliman was first announced to have failed a drug test in April 2013, which resulted in the German Boxing Federation ruling the fight a no contest and handing him a nine-month suspension in Germany.[9] In October 2016, Soliman was exonerated by a German court which judged the Federation to have acted unlawfully, thus overturning the no contest result.[10] However, in what would be yet another short-lived championship reign, Soliman lost by UD to former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor on 8 October 2014, enduring four knockdowns due to a debilitating knee injury.[11]
Soliman has worked with people in need, and closely with the Salvation Army. He has set up a gym and spends twice a week teaching fitness and wellbeing to homeless people.[12] In 1996, he competed as a contestant on season three of Australian Gladiators.
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Age | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | Loss | Yuki Nonaka | UD | 12 | 6 Apr 2024 | |||||
| 70 | Loss | 50–18–1 | Alex Walters | UD | 8 | 9 Dec 2023 | ||||
| 69 | Loss | 50–17–1 | Joel Camilleri | TKO | 1 (8), | 9 Dec 2022 | ||||
| 68 | Win | 50–16–1 | Troy O'Meley | 4 (8) | 3 Jul 2022 | |||||
| 67 | Win | 49–16–1 | Jesse White | UD | 8 | 19 Mar 2022 | ||||
| 66 | Win | 48–16–1 | Jesse White | SD | 6 | 11 Dec 2021 | ||||
| 65 | Loss | 47–16–1 | Victor Nagbe | UD | 10 | 10 Jul 2021 | ||||
| 64 | Loss | 47–15–1 | Sakio Bika | UD | 8 | 31 Mar 2021 | ||||
| 63 | Win | 47–14–1 | Mark Lucas | UD | 12 | 12 Apr 2019 | ||||
| 62 | 46–14–1 | Tej Pratap Singh | 10 | 27 Jul 2018 | ||||||
| 61 | Draw | 46–14–1 | Wes Capper | 12 | 17 Mar 2018 | |||||
| 60 | Win | 46–14 | Balazs Horvath | TKO | 3 (10), | 22 Apr 2017 | ||||
| 59 | Loss | 45–14 | Serhiy Derevianchenko | TKO | 2 (12), | 21 Jul 2016 | ||||
| 58 | Loss | 45–13 | Dominic Wade | SD | 12 | 26 Jun 2015 | ||||
| 57 | Loss | 45–12 | Jermain Taylor | UD | 12 | 8 Oct 2014 | ||||
| 56 | Win | 45–11 | Felix Sturm | UD | 12 | 31 May 2014 | ||||
| 55 | Win | 44–11 | Les Sherrington | TKO | 9 (12), | 11 Dec 2013 | ||||
| 54 | Win | 43–11 | Felix Sturm | UD | 12 | 1 Feb 2013 | ||||
| 53 | Win | 42–11 | Giovanni Lorenzo | UD | 12 | 24 Aug 2012 | ||||
| 52 | Win | 41–11 | Garth Wood | UD | 12 | 19 Feb 2012 | ||||
| 51 | Win | 40–11 | Eromosele Albert | UD | 12 | 18 Nov 2011 | ||||
| 50 | Win | 39–11 | Pradeep Singh | KO | 10 (12), | 23 Sep 2010 | ||||
| 49 | Win | 38–11 | Shannon McMahon | TKO | 11 (12), | 13 Mar 2010 | ||||
| 48 | Win | 37–11 | Les Piper | TKO | 7 (12), | 4 Oct 2008 | ||||
| 47 | Win | 36–11 | Sintung Kietbusaba | TKO | 7 (12), | 16 Aug 2008 | ||||
| 46 | Loss | 35–11 | Anthony Mundine | UD | 12 | 28 May 2008 | ||||
| 45 | Win | 35–10 | Wayne Johnsen | UD | 6 | 6 Nov 2007 | ||||
| 44 | Loss | 34–10 | Sakio Bika | UD | 8 | 30 Oct 2007 | ||||
| 43 | Win | 34–9 | Max Alexander | UD | 5 | 18 Sep 2007 | ||||
| 42 | Loss | 33–9 | Anthony Mundine | KO | 9 (12), | 7 Mar 2007 | ||||
| 41 | Win | 33–8 | Enrique Ornelas | MD | 10 | 17 Nov 2006 | ||||
| 40 | Win | 32–8 | Raúl Jorge Muñoz | TKO | 6 (10), | 3 Mar 2006 | ||||
| 39 | Loss | 31–8 | Winky Wright | UD | 12 | 10 Dec 2005 | ||||
| 38 | Win | 31–7 | Fernando Zuniga | UD | 10 | 21 Jul 2005 | ||||
| 37 | Win | 30–7 | Miguel Julio | TKO | 4 (10), | 23 Feb 2005 | ||||
| 36 | Win | 29–7 | Jose Alberto Clavero | KO | 7 (10), | 12 Dec 2004 | ||||
| 35 | Win | 28–7 | Diego Castillo | TKO | 4 (10), | 6 Nov 2004 | ||||
| 34 | Win | 27–7 | Raymond Joval | UD | 12 | 18 Jul 2004 | ||||
| 33 | Win | 26–7 | Plaisakda Boonmalert | TKO | 3 (10), | 28 May 2004 | ||||
| 32 | Win | 25–7 | Moechrody | TKO | 3 (12) | 16 Apr 2004 | ||||
| 31 | Win | 24–7 | Jorge Andres Sclarandi | TKO | 8 (12), | 7 Mar 2004 | ||||
| 30 | Win | 23–7 | Juan Carlos Lettieri | KO | 1 (12), | 23 Jan 2004 | ||||
| 29 | Win | 22–7 | Silvio Walter Rojas | TKO | 4 (12) | 5 Dec 2003 | ||||
| 28 | Win | 21–7 | Satoru Suzuki | UD | 12 | 1 Nov 2003 | ||||
| 27 | Win | 20–7 | Tokutaro Toyozumi | SD | 12 | 7 Sep 2003 | ||||
| 26 | Win | 19–7 | Ramon Arturo Britez | UD | 12 | 12 Aug 2003 | ||||
| 25 | Win | 18–7 | Nader Hamdan | UD | 12 | 2 Jun 2003 | ||||
| 24 | Win | 17–7 | Mike Cope | UD | 10 | 6 Dec 2002 | ||||
| 23 | Win | 16–7 | Sakio Bika | MD | 12 | 15 Oct 2002 | ||||
| 22 | Win | 15–7 | Sean Sullivan | UD | 12 | 24 Jul 2002 | ||||
| 21 | Win | 14–7 | Ojay Abrahams | PTS | 4 | 15 Jun 2002 | ||||
| 20 | Win | 13–7 | Eric Teymour | PTS | 8 | 26 Apr 2002 | ||||
| 19 | Loss | 12–7 | Anthony Mundine | SD | 12 | 3 Sep 2001 | ||||
| 18 | Win | 12–6 | Cornelius Carr | PTS | 6 | 28 Feb 2001 | ||||
| 17 | Loss | 11–6 | Raymond Joval | MD | 27 Jan 2001 | |||||
| 16 | Loss | 11–5 | Howard Eastman | 12 | 16 Sep 2000 | |||||
| 15 | Win | 11–4 | Neville Brown | TKO | 9 (12) | 19 Jun 2000 | ||||
| 14 | Loss | 10–4 | Jerry Elliott | UD | 8 | 6 May 2000 | ||||
| 13 | Win | 10–3 | Paul Wesley | UD | 6 | 13 Apr 2000 | ||||
| 12 | Win | 9–3 | Sakeasi Dakua | TKO | 4 (8) | 4 Dec 1999 | ||||
| 11 | Loss | 8–3 | Glen Kelly | UD | 12 | 28 Sep 1999 | ||||
| 10 | Win | 8–2 | Brad Mayo | UD | 12 | 9 Jul 1999 | ||||
| 9 | Win | 7–2 | Mosese Sorovi | 11 (12) | 7 May 1999 | |||||
| 8 | Win | 6–2 | Dale Westerman | UD | 8 | 25 Oct 1998 | ||||
| 7 | Win | 5–2 | Marty Fogas | UD | 8 | 24 May 1998 | ||||
| 6 | Win | 4–2 | Marc Bargero | UD | 8 | 17 Apr 1998 | ||||
| 5 | Win | 3–2 | Leon Rouse | UD | 4 | 20 Feb 1998 | ||||
| 4 | Loss | 2–2 | Adrian Bellin | 12 | 28 Nov 1997 | |||||
| 3 | Loss | 2–1 | Kevin Kelly | UD | 12 | 15 Aug 1997 | ||||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Peter Kinsella | 12 (12), | 3 Jun 1997 | |||||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Heath Stenton | 4 | 20 Apr 1997 |