It wasn’t a pretty sight in many ways, but Guido Vianello took a big step toward becoming a heavyweight champion on Saturday in Quebec City, Canada, when he outmaneuvered a lumbering Arslanbek Makhmudov, forcing the Russian giant to close his left eye and persuading the ringside doctor to stop the fight early in the eighth round.
The swelling began in the third round, affecting Makhmudov’s eye from below, and by the seventh round the scars had begun to spread to his forehead. After Makhmudov passed the exam several times by counting on his fingers, the doctor finally decided enough was enough and referee Albert Padulo Jr. officially called a halt to the bout.
Vianello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) boxed confidently from the get-go after coming off a loss that exceeded most spectators’ expectations in a close decision loss to Efe Ajagba in April. Meanwhile, Makhmudov, who has lost just two bouts since a fourth-round stoppage loss to Agito Kabayel in December, was slow, stiff and never quite got on track in the co-main event bout between Christian Mbili and Sergey Derevyanchenko at the Center Videotron.
Vianello won every round in this battle of two 6-foot-6 behemoths, and no round needed internal debate in scoring. The Italian overpowered Makhmudov (19-2, 18 KOs) from the start using his feet, mixing in attacks to keep “The Lion” off balance. It looked like Vianello would win easily, but it became even easier in the third round when Makhmudov’s eye began to swell.
Makhmudov’s strategy was to hurt Vianello, but “The Gladiator” kept moving quickly to his right, landing punches that the Montreal-based Russian found unpredictable. By the fifth round, Vianello was suffering from a cut from a clash of heads, but as his vision worsened, Makhmudov began turning towards his corner, as if crying out for help.
A right uppercut to the eye in the sixth round seemed to bother Makhmudov, and the fight was getting as ugly as the swelling, with both fighters exchanging multiple warnings for being too rough in the clinch. Padulo got a perfectly reasonable warning in the sixth round about Makhmudov shoving Vianero with his forearm, and after the relatively quick Vianero hit Makhmudov with a four-punch combination late in the round, Makhmudov seemed ready to check out.
In the seventh round, Vianello got a knockdown, but Padulo missed it. Makhmudov’s gloves were clearly touching the canvas. A right-left combination quickly sent Makhmudov to the ropes, and by the end of the round it was clear to almost everyone that the fight should not continue. When a timeout was called at the start of the eighth round, Makhmudov was still counting well on the doctor’s fingers, but the doctor finally realized what to do.
However Makhmudov recovers physically, he’s unlikely to regain the impression of being a heavyweight contender, while Vianello, at 30 years old, is suddenly looking like a supporting player in boxing’s glamorous division, his only two losses coming from an injury sustained while leading against Jonathan Rice and a split decision loss to the reasonably well-regarded Ajagba.