Richard Torrez Jr. Will Never Be World Champ?

No those are not my words or expressed opinion but a comment made on a short posted to the Instagram page for heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. The comment was met with obvious derision for a guy posing with Doritos and beer in his profile pic. Sure the guy may not be a boxer, may not be in great shape, and may be a dick. He also could be correct in his statement. I know I have not posted on this boxing blog since September 2024 and I am not sure why this topic is breaking the silence. I guess I needed to write about something and I had initially wanted to write about his most recent fight along with my frustration with the UK commentary for Filip Hrgovic vs Joe Joyce pretending the fight was close.

Will Richard Torrez Jr. ever become the heavyweight champion of the world? On first glance it may be too early to tell given Torrez’s short career so far of thirteen fights and having just reached year three this previous March. Torrez Jr. has had it very easy to begin his pro career with eleven of thirteen ending inside the distance and nine inside the first three rounds. Up until his fight with Guido Vianello earlier this month, Torrez Jr. essentially handled business promptly and with little difficulty. Outside of the cut he suffered in his pro debut, the young heavyweight has not really been challenged. A quick glance at his record showed twelve fights and not a round lost (not totally confirmed). Italian Guido Vianello was expected to be his first serious test outside of tough guys like Curtis Harper and Joey Dawejko designed to go rounds.

Torrez Jr. is a stocky 6’2″ southpaw bull weighing anywhere from the low 220’s to the mid 230’s. His approach has been the same in every fight as he plows forward with bombs and battles well on the inside. Vianello offered a difficult target given advantages in weight thirteen pounds, height four inches, and reach three inches. Vianello also entered on the back of a split decision loss to the current Ring Magazine number ten heavyweight Efe Ajagba and his signature victory a TKO over Arslanbek Makhmudov.

Going into the fight I believed Torrez Jr. would score a stoppage in the middle rounds of the ten round contest. Though Torrez Jr. was still unproven as a professional, I felt that Vianello despite being more experienced lacked the grit to survive the onslaught that Torrez Jr. brings. Early on in the fight my prediction seemed valid as Torrez Jr.’s hard charging assault was met with no answers from Vianello whose only resistance was clinching. His clinching was so persistent that referee Thomas Taylor had to take a point in the second round. Not being able to clinch and forced to fight it seemed that Vianello would be overwhelmed.

By the middle of the fight at around the time I believed Vianello would begin to wilt he did the opposite. The Italian tennis player turned boxer weathered the storm and began to counter punch. Vianello began winning rounds as Torrez Jr. appeared to feel the pace of the fight in a match more competitive than any he had been in. The predictable attacks of Torrez Jr. were being timed by right hands both straight and from underneath. With two rounds to go Torrez Jr. continued his attack and solidified a victory by unanimous decision. Two scorecards were 98-91 with a slightly closer 97-92 reflecting more of how I saw the fight.

The victory pushed Torrez Jr. to number seventeen in the world according to Boxrec.com and at the time of writing three of the major organizations have not updated their rankings. The WBO and WBC had Vianello ranked fifteen as of March and Torrez Jr. is likely to take that spot. The IBF updated their rankings following the fight and he is thirteenth and the WBA last updated March 31st and neither combatants were ranked. So what is Torrez Jr.’s path to a world title belt?

Right now the heavyweight division seems poised for a moment of transition resembling 2004-2005 when Lennox Lewis retired and created a void. Oleksandr Usyk holds three of the four sanctioning body titles along with the Ring Magazine Title. He is thirty-eight and likely to retire in the next year or two. I expect him to beat the landscape of contenders and retire as champion. He may be stripped of a belt or two prior to then but I feel by 2027 all four titles and the Ring Title will be fractured. I would also predict Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and possibly Anthony Joshua will be retired by then or at the very least significantly diminished. Joseph Parker, Agit Kabayel and Daniel Dubois appear to be the immediate placeholders for the division but I am not certain they are going to be long-term champions who unify belts.

Richard Torrez Jr. is twenty-five and just beginning to get ranked. His promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank Promotions has a lot of pull with the WBO and there is a chance that he could get to a title shot going that route. As of right now there are many fighters ranked ahead of him including his countryman Jared Anderson who I feel is a great step up fight for Torrez Jr. and a great redemption fight for Anderson. At his young age compared to the older age of the names in the division it seems possible that Torrez Jr. could develop over the course of three to five years and be a solid and seasoned contender vying for a title fight. He has some interesting competition in front of him.

The previously mentioned top heavyweights would all be in their mid-thirties to over forty in the next three to five years. If Torrez Jr. has not been derailed in that time he will be hitting his prime as they all exit the stage with Richard in position to beat some of them. Right now Torrez Jr. is not on the fast track and would be the underdog against all of the fighters I have mentioned minus Jared Anderson who he may be able to beat. There is an interesting assortment of young fighters such as Moses Itauma, Johnny Fisher, Justis Huni and Fabio Wardley (thirty) who could all make moves over the same three to five year window.

Itauma: at twenty there has been hype made about him trying to be the youngest titleholder since Mike Tyson. I don’t think he will get a title shot in that time period but so far he has been impressive and done what he is supposed to do. His first round stoppage of Dempsey Mckean was impressive. I think if he continues to develop he will be a very dangerous fighter down the line. Itauma is ranked second in the WBO though Joe Parker is an interim titlist so Itauma is more like third.

Fisher: at twenty-six is ranked tenth in the WBA but is coming off a controversial decision win in December over David Allen whom he is scheduled to rematch in May. Fisher like Torrez Jr. came up knocking out over matched opponents, Torrez Jr. facing slightly better opposition. Fisher got an impressive first round stoppage win over Alan Babic and was facing the largely considered over the hill Allen. Fisher won but failed the test. The rematch will tell us a lot about Fisher’s ability and whether the first meeting was a fluke.

Huni: at twenty-six is ranked in three of the four organizations and number one in the WBO. While I think he is ranked higher than he ought to be considering he never defeated anyone in the WBO’s top fifteen. He has an impressive win over Kevin Lerena in a very tough fight. He has gone the distance proving his stamina and looked very good in his last few outings though his competition has not been the toughest.

Wardley: is more of a contender than the prospects above. Wardley is also ranked by Ring Magazine and he is a proven fighter in a way that the other young heavyweights are not. Wardley is in his prime now and could be a top fighter at the time Torrez Jr. is a serious contender.

Torrez Jr. is right there with any of the above fighters minus Wardley who I feel should be seen as the favorite if they were to fight right now. My belief is that if Torrez Jr. continues to develop and is not rushed into a big fight he is not ready for he can win a heavyweight title. Now for my clarification champion and titleholder are two different things. Usyk is the champion, Dubois holds a belt. I don’t think Torrez Jr. is going to win the Ring Magazine Title or unify belts but may achieve titleholder status. He does have to clean up his game and gather more experience first.

Side note: some in the comments of the IG post referenced have said that Torrez Jr. should be a cruiserweight and would be better suited there. Richard is in his mid twenties and has not weighed less than 222 as a pro. I do not see him cutting twenty more pounds from where he is at the end of a camp. Being undersized and being a come forward brawler puts him at a disadvantage for sure. The division is trending a bit smaller from the Klitschko days with Usyk being on the small side and many of the rising fighters no more than 6’5″. Torrez Jr. will have enough size to compete.