Heavyweight Efe Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs) defeated 2016 Olympian Guido Vianello (12-2-1, 10 KOs) by a grueling 10-round split decision in the chief support bout on Saturday night at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. The scores read 96-94 Vianello, 96-94, 96-94 Ajagba.
The fight was entertaining, with both guys having their moments, but Ajagba did enough to win. Vianello looked great early, hurting Ajagba in the second but then gassing out.
Vianello’s Quick Start
The Italian heavyweight Vianello landed a hard right hand on the head of Ajagba, who looked out of it for a second. After the round, Ajagba went to the neutral corner, and the referee had to redirect him.
Interestingly, Vianello’s power and energy dropped off after that round. He looked drained from that point on, landing arm punches for the remainder of the contest. The Italian fighter’s power was not there after the second.
Someone with more power would have finished Ajagba in the third round because he was there to be stopped.
Still, even at 75%, Vianello gave Ajagba major problems in every round with his in-and-out attacks, connecting with shots before being tied up by the big 6’7″ Olympian.
Ajagba’s Comeback
Ajagba recovered well and came back strong, using his jab, right hand, and holding to get the better of Vianello. He landed some big shots to the head of the 29-year-old Vianello that seemed to tire him but not hurt or stop his aggression. That was the interesting part. Vianello didn’t stop attacking, no matter how exhausted he was.
The aggression seemed to stress Ajagba, who looked like he didn’t know how to handle the pressure well. This was a new experience for Ajagba, as most of the guys that Top Rank had matched him against previously showed fear of him and little talent, apart from his match against Frank Sanchez.
Vianello’s Resilience
Despite being exhausted, Vianello kept pushing the attack, charging forward on strafing runs and connecting with shots that bothered Ajagba but didn’t hurt him. While Vianello didn’t do enough to win, his effort pleased the fans, who were cheering loudly.
Vianello was the one pushing the fight to make it exciting. Without him, Ajagba would have slowly, robotically plodded his way to a dull win. Unfortunately for Top Rank, that’s his style. He’s not a high-energy fighter like Vianello, but he doesn’t have to be with the power he’s been blessed with.
Promising Future
Given how competitive the fight was, the judges were split on who they saw as the winner. Two gave Ajagba a narrow win with 96-94 scores, and the other saw Viannelo as having won with an identical 96-94 score.
Ajagba’s harder, cleaner shots are what won him the fight and enabled him to come back after his terrible start. He had to go through a lot to get the win, and he was very lucky that he didn’t get knocked out in the second.
It’s possible that even in losing, Vianello did enough to keep a spot in Top Rank’s stable of fighters. That effort he showed was better than what we saw in the main event from the fighter that Top Rank and ESPN have been hyping, Jared Anderson, and his opponent, Ryad Merhy.
If Top Rank wants to dump, they should consider booting Anderson and starting over with another heavyweight because he doesn’t have it. If you could translate Ajagba and Vianello’s grit into Anderson, he’d be a good heavyweight.
