Richard Torrez came out Saturday to prove a point, and if that point was simply that he's better and tougher than Guido Vianello, mission accomplished.
But Torrez, a 2020 Olympic silver medalist, has bigger goals than just beating Vianello, and he left The Palms in Las Vegas with as many questions as answers.
He scored a unanimous decision by scores of 98-91 twice and 97-92 in a performance that didn't exactly scream future champion.
Torrez is a talented guy and this was just one fight, but it was hardly the kind of victory that made jaws drop.
The 6-foot-6 Vianello had every physical edge — four inches in height, three in reach — but squandered nearly all of them. He never established the jab, couldn’t keep Torrez off him, and looked out of his depth inside. Referee Thomas Taylor docked him a point in the second for excessive holding, and there were moments early on where disqualification seemed a real possibility.
Torrez spent much of the fight in Vianello’s chest, despite the size gap. He didn't use his jab particularly well and he didn't make Torrez pay for throwing wide shots by coming up the middle with an uppercut.
Torrez landed the harder punches and rocked Vianello a couple of times, though there were no knockdowns.
A thickly muscled 229-pounder, Torrez landed just four jabs all night, opting instead to leap in and target the midsection. He frequently left himself exposed, but Vianello didn't have the tools or the willingness to make him pay.
"Not bad for a little guy," Torrez said in the ring after the decision was read.
It's important not to make too much of one fight. Torrez remains a prized prospect, and while this performance fell short of stellar, he still won going away against clearly the best opponent he's faced to this point.
He's got pop in his fists, without question, and he has heart. He wants it, badly, and he competes as hard as anyone.
He's got issues to clean up before taking another big step up in opposition. He reiterated his pre-fight comments about not turning down fights, but the Top Rank matchmakers will continue to have to be careful with him at this point.
But he did what he set out to do, by breaking Vianello down with a powerful inside game.
"I was really trying to get my thing set up, that body shot," Torrez said. "Once that body shot started working, I started landing a little more and more. From there, my other shots started landing, like the hooks. It was just the plan that we had."
Mikey Williams/Top Rank
Guido Vianello (L) jabs at Richard Torrez (R). Torrez won by unanimous decision.