Richard Torrez dealt well with the figurative and literal biggest challenge of his career Saturday night in Las Vegas.

The aggressive, undersized southpaw started strong, made adjustments that neutralized Guido Vianello’s strategic changes in the middle rounds and won their 10-round heavyweight bout by unanimous decision. Torrez’s right hook was his most consistent weapon and helped convince judges Tim Cheatham (97-92), Max De Luca (98-91) and Steve Weisfeld (98-91) that he won the main event of a nine-bout card at Palms Casino Resort’s Pearl Theater.

Referee Thomas Taylor deducted a point from Vianello for excessive holding in the second round. Torrez overcame a cut along his right eyelid, which hindered his vision during the final two rounds.

The 25-year-old Torrez, of Tulare, California, improved to 13-0. The 2021 Olympic silver medalist went the distance for the first time in three years as a pro, but he decisively defeated the taller, heavier Vianello (13-3-1, 11 KOs).

The 30-year-old Vianello, who represented Italy at the 2016 Summer Olympics, has three losses and a draw on his record, but he was the most dangerous opponent of Torrez’s career.

“Not bad for a little guy,” Torrez told ESPN’s Mark Kriegel in the ring. “Tulare’s a small town, Central Valley’s a small valley, but we represent, right? We represent.”

The 6-foot-6, 242-pound Vianello stands four inches taller than Torrez and out-weighed him by 13 pounds. That didn’t deter Torrez from bullying his way inside and attempting to tee off on Vianello for much of their bout.

“He’s an Olympian,” Torrez said. “I never gave Guido any slack. I gave him all the credit. He’s a great fighter, from Italy, number one in his country. You know, I have nothing but respect for him. But Tulare came out today.”

Though Torrez won seven rounds on one scorecard and eight rounds apiece on the other two cards, CompuBox credited him for landing only four more punches overall than Vianello (92-of-245 to 88-of-318). Torrez connected almost exclusively with power punches (86-of-216 to 73-of-239), whereas Vianello landed more jabs (15-of-79 to 6-of-29).

Torrez tried his best to knock out Vianello in the final round. The resilient Vianello fended him off, though, and made it to the final bell.

A body shot by Torres left Vianello trying to catch his breath with under 40 seconds to go in the 10th round. A right hook by Torrez caught Vianello earlier in the 10th round.

An aggressive Torrez landed several hard shots early in the ninth round. He also suffered a cut on his right eyelid, which made him more mindful of defense in the final two minutes of the ninth round.

Torrez nailed Vianello with a right hook less than a minute into the eighth round. Vianello appeared tired at that point, though he unloaded several right hands later in the eighth round.

A stiff left by Torrez staggered Vianello with just under 40 seconds remaining in the eighth round. Torrez tried to capitalize on that momentum, but Vianello remained dangerous enough to keep Torrez from becoming overly aggressive.

Torrez’s right hook landed, but Vianello fired back with a straight right late in the seventh round. Vianello’s right hand backed up Torrez a little more than a minute into the seventh round.

Vianello landed his jab and more power punches in the sixth round than in any of the first five rounds. He kept his distance more effectively in that round, which prevented Torrez from smothering Vianello’s punches.

Vianello briefly established some distance and landed his straight right in the final minute of the fifth round.

Torrez’s right hook connected a few seconds into the fifth round. He landed another right hook with under 1:40 on the clock in the fifth round, but Vianello came back with a jab that stopped Torrez’s momentum.

Taylor warned Torrez and Vianello for landing rabbit punches with one minute to go in the fourth round. Vianello landed another straight right up top and then a body shot in the opening minute of the fourth round.

Torrez’s left landed on the inside with under a minute to go in the third round. Vianello created some distance and landed a flush right hand with under two minutes remaining in the third round.

After deducting a point from him for holding in the second round, Taylor visited Vianello’s corner and warned him about that tactic before the third round started.

An annoyed Taylor took a point from Vianello for holding with 1:16 to go in the second round. Vianello tried to land a right uppercut later in the second round, but he missed and Torrez countered with a right hook.

A short, right hook by Torres landed as Vianello tried to tie him up about 25 seconds into the second round. A few seconds later, Taylor sternly warned Vianello for relentless holding for the second time in as many rounds.

Vianello tied up Torrez repeatedly when Torrez tried to bull his way inside during the first round. Taylor forcefully warned Vianello to stop holding a minute into the opening round.

Soon thereafter, Vianello landed a right uppercut as Torrez came forward, with his head down. They wrestled and tried to hit each other while clinched later in the first round.

Once they completed nine more rounds, Torrez appeared pleased with how he executed his game plan.

“You know, I was really trying to get my feints set up, [my] body shots,” Torrez said. “Then that body shot started working, started landing a little more and more. And then from there my other shots started landing, like the hooks and the backhands. And that was just the plan that we had.”