LONDON – Levi Giles is relishing the prospect of being the underdog against rising star Giorgio Visioli.
The pair will meet this Saturday at London’s Copperbox Arena for Visioli’s English lightweight title. Visioli has been labeled as one of the brightest prospects in the UK at present. The 10-0 (6 KOs) prospect has even been gaining a reputation in the US, too, after clashing with Curmel Moton following their sparring sessions. The hype surrounding young Visioli has led many to believe that Giles is just a stepping stone on his journey to world titles.
Giles does not share that same mindset.
“I'm going in as a full underdog. I'm 20 fights in now as a professional, I'm going in as an underdog, and I prefer it no other way,” Giles, 17-2-1 (4 KOs), told BoxingScene. “That's the way I prefer it, and I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a tough fight, but they’re all tough at this level. Everyone's tough, so yeah, I'm really looking forward to it.”
The 22-year-old Visioli had perhaps his toughest fight in the professional ranks back in against Joe Howarth. Many expected Visioli to breeze through the Dave Allen-trained Howarth, but he was given a good fight.
“He jumped up in level against Joe Howarth. I'm a better fighter than Joe Howarth,” said Giles. “Joe has not got the experience I have. He's a good fighter, very good. I'm not disrespecting him whatsoever. He's a good fighter. He has good knowledge under Dave Allen. He's got a good team around him, and he'll probably come again, but I'm a lot better fighter than Joe Howarth is at this current stage in my career, definitely. I'm going to be a lot bigger and harder fighter than Joe Howarth is for him.”
Visioli spoke to BoxingScene’s Declan Warrington earlier in the week, stating that he believed he had already fought better opposition in his short pro-career than Giles. So is Visioli underestimating Giles ahead of Saturday’s bout?
“Definitely. I'm going on what I know and I'm a lot more proven,” said Giles. “I haven’t boxed in competitive fights at lightweight, but that's not because we haven't tried. We had the fight with Frankie Stringer, an unfortunate event. Frankie couldn't go through with it, and we took the next available fight. There was an easier fight than this. We'd been offered Cameron Vuong. I could have waited out and seen that fight. He's going to see Saturday night. I haven't really got anything bad to say. It's just another day in the office, but Saturday night, I'm going to be the English lightweight champion.”
Tom Ivers is a lifelong fight fan and former amateur boxer who has a master’s degree in sports journalism. Tom joined BoxingScene in 2024 and is now a key part of the UK and social media teams.
