Promising Giorgio Visioli eases to first defence of English 135lbs title

LONDON – Giorgio Visioli made the first defence of his English lightweight title with a routine win over Levi Giles at London’s Copper Box Arena.

The highly touted Visioli was in control from the off and, although Giles, 17-3-1 (4 KOs), never stopped pushing forwards, he rarely troubled Visioli. The judges’ scorecards read 99-90, 100-89 and 99-90 in Visioli’s favour.

The 22 year old started the contest on the backfoot, waiting for Giles to march forwards behind his high guard before landing his jab. Giles, 29, wasn’t deterred by his lack of success in the early sessions and continued to push forwards, but he was getting countered by Visioli’s southpaw left hand. Visioli was looking more comfortable as the rounds went by and, in the fifth, had his opponent on the canvas after a spiteful left hand to the body.

Giles fought back bravely but Visioli was enjoying himself in there, landing his sharp counters before pivoting away from Giles. Visioli was in complete control, and Giles was starting to tire. It looked only a matter of time before Visioli’s attacks to the body became too much for Giles. In the eighth and ninth sessions Visioli threatened to drop Giles again, when stabbing his right into his opponent’s ribs. Giles stood firm and fought bravely into the 10th, by when it appeared Visioli, 11-0 (6 KOs), had accepted that a points victory would be enough. The bell sounded, and Visioli was awarded the victory by unanimous decision that proved that he will need a sterner test.

Jimmy Sains earlier defended his English middleweight title via a majority decision victory over Derrick Osaze. Their bout was a competitive one in which Sains looked sharp early with his straight shots. Sains, 12-0 (10 KOs), even buckled the legs of Osaze with a hard right hand in the third. Osaze, 32, responded well in the fourth, hammering away at Sains with looping shots as he lay on the ropes. The 25-year-old Sains was being dragged into a fight and gradually looked more and more tired. In the eighth Sains was starting to come apart and was spending an increasing amount of time on the ropes.

Osaze started to land scrappy shots on the inside to both head and body. It remained competitive entering the final two sessions; both pushed through their fatigue in an attempt to secure victory. The more experienced Osaze finished the fresher of the two, when pushing Sains back into the ropes and letting his hands go. Sains didn’t back off, however, and landed short right hands on the inside. They finished the 10th and final session battling in the corner. The judges’ scorecards read 95-95, 97-93 and 96-64 to Sains. Osaze fell to 13-4 (3 KOs) with the defeat.

Emmanuel Buttigieg had by then brutally finished Jake Goodwin, 8-3-1 (1 KO), in the ninth round of a highly entertaining and competitive bout. Goodwin had started to take control of the contest in the fifth, when hurting Buttigieg to the body and forcing the 21-year-old to spit out his gumshield. Goodwin, 27, then targeted Buttigeig’s midsection, contributing to the Londoner spitting out his gumshield a further four times in the sixth and seventh sessions, and therefore being deducted two points.

It was troubling for Buttigieg, who was on his last warning for his conduct and looked to be fading from Goodwin’s body attacks. Buttigieg regardless fought back bravely in the eighth and ninth, even stunning Goodwin with a right hand. Midway through the ninth Buttigeig landed a vicious left hook, sending Goodwin face-first to the canvas. Buttigieg even landed a right hand that crunched into the face of Goodwin as he hit the deck. Goodwin bravely leapt to his feet, but sank to his knees in the corner with his head still spinning from Buttigeig’s shots. Buttigieg, 12-0 (4 KOs), moves closer to a shot at promotional stablemate Sains’ English middleweight title, but will have to improve on his showing if he is to be competitive.

The featherweight Connor Mitchell, the son of the retired world-title challenger Kevin, fought and won for the second time as a professional. The 21-year-old earned a shutout victory over four rounds with the 26-year-old Yuri Zanoli, 8-19-1 (4 KOs), to move to 2-0 (1 KO).

Another Tony Sims-trained prospect, Louie Ward, also made his professional debut, in the junior lightweight division. The 21-year-old was pitted against Jahfieus Faure, 4-25-3 and 19 years his senior. Ward was in control throughout and won by a score of 40-36 to move to 1-0 as a professional.