LAS VEGAS – Boxing is always on the lookout for the next big US heavyweight. Richard Torrez Jnr is starting smaller, first aiming to prove he's a future contender in the division.

On Saturday, Torrez faces Guido Vianello in a 10-round heavyweight main-event bout from Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

Torrez, 12-0 (11 KOs), is a 2024 Olympic silver medalist who seems cited as often for his height as his pedigree or skills. A 6ft 2in southpaw, Torrez is considered to be small for the modern heavyweight era.

“Height and weight, they always say he's not a big guy at heavyweight,” Richard Torrez Snr, who serves as his son’s coach and trainer, told BoxingScene. “But just like I told him as a kid – he walked into the ring with kids who were 230 pounds, and he's 15 or 16 years old – and he says, ‘Pops. He's pretty big.’ I said, ‘Don't worry. You don't have to carry him.’ We are going to use our advantages, our skills, and we're going to break them down with speed and power.”

Torrez, a 25-year-old from Tulare, California, took his training camp to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in anticipation of the biggest fight of his career. He has had a long-standing relationship with USA Boxing.

“He goes to camp there all the time and stuff, he's part of the ambassadorship for USA boxing,” Torrez Snr said. “So when USA Boxing has a camp, he gets to go to camp and participate with them and get more experience and train at altitude. It was an easy transition.”

The next step comes Saturday against Italy’s 30-year-old Vianello, 13-2-1 (11 KOs), who participated in the 2016 Olympics – though, unlike Torrez, didn’t medal.

“Nothing we haven't seen before through his vast amateur experience,” Torrez Snr said. “He's a valiant warrior. He's ready to fight, and we look forward to it.”

Vianello has already fought several notable contenders, such as Efe Ajagba, Arslanbek Makhmudov, Jonnie Rice and Kingsley Ibeh. He had limited success in those appearances, going 1-2-1, but his past two fights – against Ajagba, whom Vianello lost to in a split decision, and a stoppage of Makhmudov – were the best performances of his career. Vianello will be the most experienced fighter Torrez has faced as a professional.

"It's the next level, just like the years of him first starting to box when he was four,” Torrez Snr said. “Everything was a level. We've been doing this for a lifetime, his lifetime, and everything's a process, and we understand the process.”

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.