Guido Vianello Vows To Knock Out Arslanbek Makhmudov ‘In Seven Rounds’
Italian heavyweight Guido Vianello is planning to gain revenge on Arslanbek Makhmudov this Saturday and has predicted a knockout victory in the first seven rounds.
Vianello (12-2-1 10 KO) and Makhmudov (19-1-0 18 KO) will fight in the co-main event of Christian MbIlli’s super-middleweight fight against Sergey Derevyanchenko at Centre Videotron in Quebec City, Canada.
Their upcoming bout promises to be a slugfest between two giant heavyweights with a fondness for knocking out opponents. It will also be a rematch of sorts following their bout in the amateurs almost a decade ago.
Vianello and Makhmudov met at the 2015 World Series of Boxing – an international tournament for leading amateurs – where the Russian won by stoppage in the fourth of five scheduled rounds.
Victory for either fighter on Saturday would represent an important step in their respective careers. Vianello is coming off a split-decision defeat to top 10 contender Efe Ajagba in April, while Makhmudov suffered a shock fourth-round KO loss to Agit Kabayel two fights ago in December.
“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.
“He’s strong, he has strong punches but I know I can do a lot more things than him. 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 is not yet a fixture in the top 15 of the rankings, but his narrow defeat to Nigeria’s Ajagba – the first time the Italian had gone the distance in a 10-round bout – suggested he has the tools to climb the standings. He must beat the powerful Makhmudov to make that happen, though.
“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,” Vianello said. “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.”
Vianello’s other professional defeat occurred last year when, in January, he suffered a seventh-round stoppage by Jonathan Rice having sustained a cut above his eye. The Italian says he’s continued to improve and has been sparring with Francis Ngannou and Michael Hunter to sharpen his tools.
“I started my training camp in Italy because there is the Olympic Games in Paris. So many boxing teams came to Italy to train with the Italian boxing team,” he said. “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 developed a reputation as a fearsome power puncher after knocking out 17 of his first 18 opponents, only getting taken the distance by durable veteran Carlos Takam. His stoppage defeat to Kabayel exposed some weaknesses in the Russian (although he did break his hand early in fight), and Vianello is determined to add another loss to his record.
“He’s strong and everyone knows but he didn’t fight with good boxers, he fought with just normal boxers,” the Italian said. “I think I’m totally different from them. He will not touch me many times.”
