By Keith Idec

NEWARK, N.J. — Odlanier Solis will be boxing’s busiest heavyweight the rest of 2012 as the Cuban contender attempts to fight his way back to another title shot.

If Solis (18-1, 12 KOs) defeats Norway’s Leif Larsen (16-0, 13 KOs) in a 10-round fight Oct. 12 in Madrid, he’ll take a brief break before beginning training for a Dec. 22 fight against Tomasz Adamek. The Solis-Larsen bout won’t be broadcast in the United States, but the Solis-Adamek match will be televised by NBC if Solis gets past Larsen.

As part of its partnership with NBC Sports Network, Main Events, which co-promotes Adamek and Solis, will provide an undetermined number of boxing cards to its parent company’s free television network.

Solis versus Adamek will take place at the Sands Casino Resort’s Events Center in Bethlehem, Pa. The 12-round fight will be televised live during the afternoon on the East Coast. 

The 35-year-old Adamek (47-2, 29 KOs), a Kearny, N.J., resident, got off the canvas in the second round Sept. 8 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and stopped Atlanta’s Travis Walker (39-8-1, 31 KOs) in the fifth round of a highly entertaining slugfest.

Solis, 32, easily out-pointed Kazakhstan’s Konstantin Airich (23-7-2, 17 KOs) in his last fight, a 12-rounder May 19 in Pharr, Texas. The Airich match was Solis’ first in the 14 months since he suffered a serious knee injury in the first round of a technical knockout defeat to WBC champion Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KOs).

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.