Giorgio Visioli beats Joe Howarth in London to capture first pro title

Giorgio Visioli claimed the vacant English lightweight title with a mostly polished, but sometimes shaky, points victory over Joe Howarth earlier this evening.

Howarth enjoyed a crumb of success with his right hand in the opening round, though Visioli swiftly recovered and fired back with sharper artillery.

Again, the 22-year-old was predominantly in the driver’s seat throughout the following round, utilising his quick feet to seamlessly dart in and out of range.

Howarth, in response, offered very little creativity in attack, but nonetheless continued to march forward with a tight defensive shape, complementing his measured aggression on the front foot.

By the fifth round, the visitor was beginning to make a mockery of the pre-fight betting odds and, as he relentlessly pressed forward, Visioli was forced to make several adjustments.

The rest of their encounter saw the Aldershot man do exactly that, with a sumptuous ninth-round right hand to the body almost sending Howarth to the canvas

The ‘Wigan Warrior’ did land an eye-catching duo of right hooks in the 10th session, but would find himself on the wrong end of scorecards 100-91, 98-92 and 97-93.

In the co-main event, John Hedges made expert use of his sky-blue gloves – paying tribute to Ricky Hatton, his late trainer – as he successfully defended his English cruiserweight title against Ellis Zorro.

The 23-year-old controlled proceedings from start to finish with his southpaw jab, never allowing Zorro to get up close and personal, while also slamming in the odd thudding hook to the body.

Soon enough, it became something of a rinse and repeat mission for Hedges, who suddenly dropped his man with a cuffing right hand in the seventh round.

Beyond that, though, ‘The Gentleman’ just simply kept things smooth and classy, doing more than enough to claim scorecards of 98-93, 97-94 and 96-96.