Guido Vianello, quite frankly, needed Saturday night’s win over Alexis Barriere in Philadelphia to halt his recent backslide, which could have rendered him all but irrelevant on the heavyweight landscape.
But Italy’s Vianello, 14-3-1 (12 KOs), is suddenly itching to take a big step in the other direction after seemingly unlocking a missing element in his dismantling of the previously unbeaten Canadian prospect Barriere.
After giving Barriere, 12-1 (10 KOs), the space to find his timing and get comfortable sniping him with counterpunches over stretches of the first few rounds, Vianello flipped a switch in the fourth and came out of his corner seemingly determined to overwhelm his opponent with size, power and volume.
“I didn't feel nothing, his punches, nothing,” Vianello said of the fight’s early rounds. “I'm sad because I could win in two rounds, this fight. So next time I will be better.”
What changed? A reminder to himself of the sacrifices he made after stumbling to decision losses (to Richard Torrez Jnr and Efe Ajagba) in two of his past three fights: months in the gym, no partying, not a drop to drink.
“Suffering, suffering, gym, weights, no free time,” Vianello said. “Everything, [I left it] inside the ring. And I will [fight] all my fights like this, all the time.”
And if Vianello has his way, the next one would be a blockbuster and, stylistically, a potentially explosive matchup.
“Now I want a big name,” he said. “You want to know what big name I want? Anthony Joshua. I want Anthony Joshua. I want him in front of me. Let’s fight in Rome, in The Coliseum, in London – whatever you want. But give me a big name, please. I’m 31, I don’t have extra time, I want to win now.”
Joshua, 28-4 (25 KOs), the two-time former unified heavyweight champion, hasn’t fought since being stopped in five rounds by Daniel Dubois in London’s Wembley Stadium last September, more than a year ago. At 35, he has even less time left than Vianello, and he just might be interested in a return matchup against an unproven heavyweight who has already shown vulnerabilities.
Against Ajagba, for example, Vianello let his opponent off the hook when he seemed to have him hurt in the second round of their April 2024 fight.
“I am dreaming that round all my nights,” Vianello said. “Every day I see Efe Ajagba in my mind, because in that second round I didn’t have the experience to understand that you have to show up and beat him fast. I was just crazy.”
But Vianello – “The Gladiator” – says he’s ready to step into the arena with one of the top heavyweights of his generation in Joshua.
“Yes, please,” he said. “Por favor.”
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.
