Guido Vianello has a personal score to settle against Russia’s Arslanbek Makhmudov when they fight on Saturday (August 17).
Italy’s Vianello (12-2-1, 10 KOs) told BoxingScene that Makhmudov (19-1, 18 KOs) has been a familiar foe since they fought over a decade ago in the World Series of Boxing. Vianello will return to winning ways if he gets past the Russian in a heavyweight contest at Centre Videotron, Quebec City in Canada.
Vianello, 30, expects a slugfest against Makhmudov but is confident he will win it.
“I’m really happy to fight with Makhmudov because he’s the perfect opponent for me right now,” said Vianello. “Now I’m 30 and I feel ready to take a big step. I fought Makhmudov 10 years ago in an amateur fight. I was a baby then but now everything is different.”
Vianello was stopped in four rounds (the WSB bouts were always scheduled for five). “He’s strong, he has strong punches but I know I can do a lot more things than him,” the Italian commented. “I think that’s a perfect fight because we are different so I have to be focused all the time with him. But I know that I will win. I’ll win by KO in seven rounds.”
Vianello went the distance for the first time in his career against Nigeria’s Efe Ajagba last March in a 10-rounder. The Italian lost a split decision in the process, a fight he felt he nicked and a result to learn from.
“I’m really happy to be going into this fight in the best shape ever. So, my last fight for me was a test because I never fought in 10 rounds. It was very important for me because I learned a lot from that fight. For me, the fight was very close. I could win but I don’t care now. It’s the past, so you can’t change the past.”
Before losing to Ajagba, Vianello had one blemish on his pro career – a maiden loss to Jonathan Rice in January last year. South Carolina’s Rice blew Vianello away with an emphatic seventh round TKO victory after the Italian sustained a cut above his right eye.
On Saturday, Vianello will hope not to repeat those mistakes against Makhmudov. He’s had a great camp sparring the likes of MMA star Francis Ngannou of Cameroon and Nevada’s Michael Hunter. Prior to these sessions, Vianello camped in his native Italy in order to have a close proximity to the Olympic Games fighters in Paris.
“I started my training camp in Italy because there is the Olympics game in Paris. So many boxing teams came to Italy to train with the Italian boxing team. I went there for two weeks and I sparred with the Olympics heavyweights. So, I started with them.
“All the young guys, all very strong guys, so it was a great start for me. Then I moved here to Las Vegas because I had many sparring partners. This training camp was very hard because I did a lot of rounds in all sparring partner sessions.
“The gym has been a hell of a time. I’ve been training so hard every day. I know that Makhmudov is a strong guy so I did the hardest training camp ever.”
Makhmudov, 35, recorded 17 stoppages in his first 18 pro fights before losing to Germany’s Agit Kabayel last December in Saudi Arabia. Rated No. 11 by the WBC and No. 15 by the IBF, he stopped Miljan Rovcanin in two rounds on his return five months later.
But Vianello sounds unperturbed by his opponent’s record going into Saturday’s encounter.
“He’s strong and everyone knows but he didn’t fight with good boxers, he fought with just normal boxers. I think I’m totally different from them. He will not touch me many times.
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].
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