Heavyweight Guido Vianello Gets ESPN Stage
Heavyweight Guido Vianello, who was a 2016 Olympian for his native Italy, will take on the most notable opponent of his pro career in Jonnie Rice and proclaimed this week he is ready for the test.
“Jonnie has a lot of experience, more than me. But I’m ready,” Vianello said. “I’ve been training very hard. I’ve been training very hard for four years since I moved to the USA. I train all the time to fight in a war, so I’m ready for this.”
Vianello (10-0-1, 9 KOs), 28, squares off with Rice (15-6-1, 10 KOs), 35, a Los Angeles native fighting out of Las Vegas, in the 10-round co-feature of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card headlined by the heavyweight fight between Efe Ajagba and Stephan Shaw on Saturday (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
Ready to go 🔥 🇺🇸 USA Saturday night live on @espn 10pm ET – 🇮🇹 ITALIA. @MolaTVSport 🇬🇧 England @SkySport Let’s Go @trboxing @sjamboxing #thegladiator #italia #usa #boxing #fight pic.twitter.com/GGxUDWsZ6n
— Guido Vianello (@vianello_guido) January 13, 2023
Vianello had his first pro fight in his home country in October, winning an eight-round decision over durable journeyman Jay McFarlane.
“I was happy to fight in my country, but I’m happy to fight here as well because America is my second home,” Vianello said. “My last opponent was very tough. I got him with a lot of punches. It was incredible because I have my gladiator style and he had a wild style. So, it was good for the Italian people.”
Catch a full preview of Vianello-Rice from our BetUS Friday afternoon show by clicking below,
Rice has faced several notable opponents, including losses to Shaw, Tony Yoka and Ajagba, but he rebounded from the loss to Ajagba to knock out unbeaten Michael Coffie in the fifth round of an upset in July 2021 and then outpointed him in an immediate rematch in last January.
“It’s another chance to beat another undefeated fighter and that’s what’s on my mind,” Rice said. “I’m going to go in there and beat him.”
Since 2000, award-winning reporter Dan Rafael has covered boxing full time and been ringside for thousands of fights, first for five years at USA Today and then for 15 years at ESPN, where he wrote and appeared on various television, radio and streaming programs. In 2013, Dan was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America with the Nat Fleischer award for career excellence in boxing journalism. Dan brings his great insight to the Big Fight Weekend site, podcast and more!
