Efe Ajagba battles Guido Vianel Vianello while awaiting heavier stakes
R OIO 2016 Olympics quarterfinalist, quar Efe Ajagba, at last, has a chance to remind the world of his potential when he mee meets Guido Vianello in a hea heavyweight challenge b bout this weekend.
Hea Heavyweight boxin boxing has rea reached a p point of attraction at which the stakes have rarely be been higher, as Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk near their May 18 u undisputed title fight and former champion Anthony Joshua hovers impressively, writes boxingscene. com.
“Heavyweights not named Fury, Usyk or J Joshua are all marking time now,” Hall of Fame ma matchmaker, Bruce Trampler of Top Rank, said. “They n need to be fighting and staying active for when the time tim comes.” That’s how we’ll find Top Rank heavyweigh heavyweights Ajagba ( 19- 1, 14 KOS) and Vianello ( 12- 1- 1, 10 KOS) on Saturday night – in the ESPN- televised co- main event t to the Jared Anderson- Ryad Merhy heavyweight main event at American Bank Arena in Corpus Christi, Tex Texas.
At age 29, Vianello senses that the time is now to strengthen his position in the four sanctioning sanctio bodies’ rankings, as Usyk, 37, Fury, 35, and Josh Joshua, 34, occupy themselves with their elite- level matches ma and move closer to retirement age.
“Guido wanted to take a shot at a name, and Efe is in that position like every other top- 10 guy, saying, ‘ What else do I have to do?’” Trampler said. “You’re not going to be getting a bite at the Big Apple for a while.” In Ajagba, also 29, Vianello faces an imposing Nigerian currently ranked number four in the WBC, number nine in the IBF and number 11 by the WBO. “Guido let it be known he wanted to step up and fight a top- 10 guy,” Trampler said. “He didn’t ask for a win or a sure win. He’s got his career to worry about. “So, we gave him a shot at someone important, and a win by Guido puts him closer to the top.” The 6- foot- - 6 Vianello, a former Italian Olympian pian from Rome, started 7- 0 in his first 18 months as a pro before a disappointing 2020 draw against nst Kingsley Ibeh in the Top Rank bubble and a January 2023 loss to Jonathan Rice, in which he sustained ned a sixthround cut near the eye and the referee eferee sent the bout to scorecards in the seventh. Since e then, Vianello has as won twice, most ost recently posting osting a first- round d knockout in
February.