On the week of his 22nd birthday, Giorgio Visioli made easy work of seasoned veteran Kane Baker en route to a fourth-round stoppage win on April 19 before Eddie Hearn waxed lyrical about the youngster's potential in a division bursting with possibilities.

"We were excited about him a long time ago," Hearn told The Ring post-fight in Sheffield, intimating that it wouldn't be long before the Repton graduate (7-0, 6 KOs) would be matched tougher after his second eight-round contest didn't go the distance.

"He's too good. You've got to realise the way he's coasting through, Giorgio is already British, Commonwealth, European level and we're not even seeing him out of first gear. He won't get bored but do better against stronger opposition, so it's time to chat with Sunny, Anto, Mark and the team, we don't gamble but have to acknowledge how good he is.

"I want to see him win English and British title eliminators, don't see any fighters giving him trouble, obviously he needs in-ring experience but is a future world champion. We've got to keep passing the tests, keep him active and step up the opposition but unfortunately I don't know where it's going to come from."

Argentina's Elias Federico Duguet (7-1-1, 2 KOs) is this weekend's assignment in Birmingham, another scheduled eight-rounder, and three months ago was set to box Queensberry-backed talent Royston Barney-Smith (14-0, 7 KOs).

Instead, injury and illness struck for the 21-year-old, who now faces unbeaten domestic rival Danny Quartermaine (13-0-1, 4 KOs) for his IBF and WBO European titles on July 26. 

While those titles are often sniffed at by detractors in an era where there are too many belts, credible names have claimed them in recent years - including Archie Sharp (25-2, 9 KOs) and highly-ranked unbeaten contender Sultan Zaurbek (#2 WBA, #4 IBF).

Giorgio can't help but smile as this is all being laid out in-front of him, having named "smart and patient" Barney-Smith as the country's top prospect (besides himself) at 130-pounds.

Visioli is also close friends with Wasserman-promoted Tom Welland (9-0, 5 KOs) dating back to two years' worth fiercely sparring three times a week as bullish teenagers at West Ham, which has served the Essex man well as he carves his own path in the paid ranks.

"I rate and respect Royston, we fought in the amateurs and are from the same Hampshire county too," he tells The Ring.

"He could do well and we'll probably fight one day down the line again, Royston is best technically and Ryan [Garner] is the current No. 1, someone I want to beat one day.

"We fought as kids, it was my first boxing season and fifth fight, having started at 16 after a decade of kickboxing before that. He was England's number one then and I was told he's the best thing since sliced bread! I don't really like talking about it but felt I won that fight [he lost 3-2 on a split decision], stuck it on YouTube and got a domestic call-up straight afterwards. The whole country started knowing my name after that."

Six years later, they're aligned with rival promotions on the same DAZN platform but perhaps that's beneficial to avoid inevitable questions about in-house matchups the way Sam Noakes-Mark Chamberlain and others previously were linked to no avail.

"In the amateurs, I could always hit hard but it was more about showing it... it's like you're at 100mph so can't really set your feet, whereas now I take my time more and think about what I do to break down opponents. I'm getting physically stronger and you can see from the size of my debut to now, thickening out as my man strength is coming into play. There's more of that to come, so junior lightweights won't last against me."

As he talks about thickening out and growing into his frame, the mind wanders back to a scene in January where his parents looked far from comfortable on the eve of his fifth-round stoppage win over Mexico's Francisco Javier Lucero (16-9-4, 12 KOs).

It was Thursday's weigh-in activities at the Canary Riverside Plaza Hotel and as attention centred around George Liddard before his first main event, Visioli arrived with his team looking more reserved than usual as he'd clearly been dehydrated before tipping the scales.

He hasn't yet made the 130-pound weight limit across any of his seven professional fights, but that will eventually change to challenge for ranking titles. It's only a matter of time before lightweight and potentially beyond are physically forced upon him and he's aware.

"Who knows where I'll be in a year's time? Still young so if I grow even more next year, I might not be able to box at this weight. I'm making it quite easy for now, but let's see. Eventually, I will go up and look to win titles there too."

Visioli named former European bantamweight champion Lee McGregor and more notably, unbeaten American teenager Curmel Moton, as some of the inspired sparring he experienced in preparation for his one-sided stoppage win over Baker.

"I sparred with some top guys, Curmel Moton, Kevin Hayler Brown, American amateurs, obviously there's a lot going on about me and Curmel but... I respect him, he's very good though ultimately I'd fight anyone. I know what I did in those spars but Las Vegas as a whole, you have to do it, go overseas and test your level against different styles. McGregor is similar to Kane, even though he's at a way higher level, so that was helpful and it showed.

"I confused him [Baker] straight away with my speed, footwork, he didn't know what to do. I'm sitting on my shots, planting my feet more, having more viral moments and am looking forward to showing more."

It's that matter-of-fact stance he adopts when detailing the feeling he was set up for failure at Ismael Salas' Vegas gym, classic beat-the-Brit-until-he-quits type sparring sessions. That didn't faze him and rather, emboldened him having held his own against their best.

"I sparred on the Monday against Brown [7-0, Vegas resident from Cuba] and he was easily the best spar I had. 400 amateur fights or something crazy, beat Andy Cruz twice, some other well-known Cubans, he hasn't got the recognition because he couldn't go pro given the [defection] situation over there.

"I sparred the two-time national champion, who was in with Rolly Romero the day before, did really well against both of them and was meant to spar them again on the Wednesday.

"Got there midweek, the lady said 'you're sparring Curmel today.' I did really well again - they weren't happy - came back Friday and we did another six rounds, so 12 in total, he obviously wasn't happy so really upped his game. He tried to stick it on me, was wearing his 14oz gloves after wearing 16oz before, they tried to unsettle me and it just didn't happen.

"He couldn't deal with me. The speed, my style, he's too used to sitting toe-to-toe and having a war, people are used to seeing rubbish on social media of him beating up beginners. Not me."

Besides basking in old Floyd Mayweather's highlights, Visioli doesn't watch much boxing when not supporting friends in person or marquee fights are on television. Yet his profile is steadily growing and people are taking notice, Moton sparring stories notwithstanding.

"You have to spar abroad. At some point in the UK, you've sparred everyone and it's the same old style, go overseas - not necessarily America - Europe is great too, get a feel for different looks. It gets you sharp and that experience made me better for the Kane fight. I want to go over there all the time, but it's all about timing it right."

His eyes lit up talking about Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and the endless possibilities with gyms in those cities, as well as Houston, Texas where WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson and former WBA featherweight titlist Raymond Ford train. 

"Mark [Tibbs, his coach] has been there with sparring a lot in the past and Ray followed me on Instagram the other day, I'd love to spar with him at some point. Eddie's got the link and that would be great, it's nice to be recognised."

"You can see every fight I've improved massively and that's down to what we've been working in training, getting the rounds in. That, as well as sparring top guys in Vegas, is all down to Mark organising things, we get along very well and have a great bond - that's a massive thing to have as a coach.

"He listens to what I say, if I'm unhappy with something, we'll work things out. Some coaches have egos and you can't tell them anything, Jimmy [Tibbs, Mark's dad] is a legend and it's an honour having him watch me given what he's done, just a wealth of knowledge listening to him and it's nice to hear."

If he emerges unscathed this weekend, he wants two more fights between July and December, building the routine and resume as bigger names await. The English title last held by Josh Holmes (16-0, 6 KOs) is now vacant, though there's caution to avoid the same missteps Junaid Bostan (10-0-1, 8 KOs) finds himself navigating at junior middleweight.

"Even though I believe I beat them now, they have the advantage of late-round experience while I've only done one full six-rounder. It's hard to match me, they sent some European guys and others abroad with decent records, I'll bank a few and then maybe a Michael Gomez Jnr or Reece Bellotti, it's not far away. I can see it, we're close to that level."