Top Rank will look to rehab one of its heavyweights and give the Quebecois faithful something to cheer for when Guido Vianello fights Simon Kean in the co-feature of Artur Beterbiev vs Callum Smith on August 19th.
Vianello (10-1-1, 9 KO) represented Italy at the 2016 games, but consistently proved a step behind even second-tier contemporaries like Efe Ajagba and Ali Eren Demirezen in the pros. He was lucky to escape with a draw against Kingsley Ibeh in 2020 and, most recently, got stopped on a cut against Jonnie Rice that Top Rank officials, to their credit, correctly argued came from a punch as opposed to the originally ruled headbutt.
Vianello said, “I’m in great shape and looking to avenge the freak accident that ended my fight last time. Simon Kean is a big name in Canada, and I’m coming for a knockout. This is my new era. I see only myself in the center of the ring, and any opponent is just stopping me from getting to where I want to be.”
Kean (23-1, 22 KO) is 34 years old, has been fighting since 2015, and his best win is still over Adam Braidwood in 2018. He got knocked out by Dillon Carman five months later and his biggest fight since was March’s knockout of Eric Molina.
Kean said, “Vianello is a big contender, the biggest challenge of my career, but I’m there. I’m training hard, and it paid off in my last fight. I’m a 2.0 version of ‘The Grizzly.’ Nothing has been left to chance in preparation for this fight against the Italian Olympian, and it promises to be a smashing victory for me!”
Not exactly a high-level scrap, but fun things can emerge when similarly limited guys square off.
No word yet as to the rest of the undercard, though BoxRec does list Christian Mbili vs. TBA.