Britain’s Giorgio Visioli expects to be rewarded for his victory over James Wilkins by imminently challenging for the Southern Area lightweight title, according to his trainer Mark Tibbs.
The 22-year-old on Saturday fought for the first time in the US, and for the ninth time in total, when on the undercard of Jaron “Boots” Ennis-Uisma Lima at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia he earned a unanimous decision over the 29-year-old Wilkins at the conclusion of eight largely one-sided rounds.
In victory he enhanced his reputation as a promising fighter – his reputation was already growing in the US partly as a consequence of rumors surrounding him sparring Curmel Moton – and his trainer, impressed by how he handled the occasion of his first fight overseas, is content with the plans of Visioli’s manager Sunny Edwards to secure a title fight for him before the conclusion of 2025.
The lightweight’s promoters Matchroom are expected to confirm a bill for December 20 that potentially could involve the British light heavyweight Craig Richards, and Tibbs told BoxingScene: “I’d like him out before Christmas – one more, if we can. His management ain’t confirmed this with me, but I’m hearing they’re going to have him out on a show before Christmas, and it could be a title fight – an area title fight.
“I’d like him to go along that [southern area title] route. Reason being, although he’s super skilled and super advanced, he still has to be built mentality, [in his] maturity, and emotionally. We feel that he’s got the attributes to be a world champion, [but] he’s not the end product yet.”
Should Visioli be matched again in December he will have recorded five fights in 2025. He joined Tibbs in Las Vegas in the spring when Tibbs was helping the heavyweight Johnny Fisher prepare for his rematch with David Allen, and the trainer considers their time there particularly influential in the progress that has since been seen.
“The two weeks we was there he really turned some corners,” Tibbs explained. They then arrived in Philadelphia on the Monday before Visioli was scheduled to fight.
“This [against Wilkins] being his first international outing, I had confidence that he’d be sweet as a nut,” he continued. “Matchroom, his promoter, set some lovely things up with him with the Italian community [in Philadelphia]. I walked away most of the time while he got on with it, and when I looked at the final edits of his work out there – an Italian museum; the stuff he’d done in the community out there with the young amateur fighters – I was really proud.
“He made the weight perfect – at championship weight. He was bang on 135, and he really feels that’s his weight [having previously considered junior lightweight].
“He had a long day of media. I said ‘Giorgio, you done brilliantly today’. That was with the making weight, the weigh-in, and all the media. I really meant it. He looked back at me and said ‘Tomorrow I’m going to be even better’. I knew he was going to perform.
“[The time in Vegas] worked wonders for this fight in America. The sparring out there was really, really top sparring. The first guy he sparred, a Cuban, Kevin [Hayler] Brown; he was vastly experienced; you could tell he’d mixed in good company. We had one spar with him – I wish we’d had a week’s worth.
“The guys out there presented us with Cumel Moton, along with some other guys. We sparred with Moton on the Wednesday and the Friday after that, and he done 12 rounds with him – six and six. Giorgio said ‘Oh my God, that’s Cumel Moton’, and I said ‘You wanted me to hunt him down – he’s come to us, be careful what you wish for’. He was very impressive in that first spar with Cumel, and Cumel went ‘We want this again Friday’. It was a competitive spar, and I was over the moon with it.”
Tibbs was then asked about how impressed he had been with Ennis’ first-round stoppage of Lima in the main event, and he responded: “I was very, very, very impressed with him. Credit to Lima – Lima caught Ennis with a beautiful left hook that didn’t budge him. But it was the way Ennis responded immediately, and got rid of Lima. I’d like to have seen four, five, six rounds for Ennis, but wouldn’t we all? Very impressed with him – incredibly.”
