Lomachenko Debut Article (Spoiler)

Lomachenko Impresses on Pro Début
by Erman Housein


Vasyl Lomachenko produced an impressive and destructive display on route to a fourth round stoppage victory over Jose Ramirez (25-4, 15 KO) in his eagerly awaited professional début at the Thomas & Mack Center last night as part of the HBO televised undercard for the Timothy Bradley- Juan Manuel Marquez main feature.

The double Olympic gold medallist who boasts an outstanding 396-1 amateur record made a smooth transition to the pro ranks dismantling his tough Mexican opponent with a thunderous left hook to the body in the fourth round which forced referee Russell Mora to call a halt to proceedings.

Lomachenko had made a dream start to the contest dropping Ramirez in the opening round with a scathing left to the body followed by a right hand to the head, which appeared initially to be enough to end the bout there and then. After taking a count and to his credit Ramirez recovered well and would set a high tempo for the fight over the next couple of rounds. Whilst his own successes were limited as Lomachenko was proving elusive in terms of being able to catch cleanly to the head Ramirez did have some relative joy with his own body work, landing a few solid rights to the midriff of the Ukrainian as he tried to back Lomachenko up and impose his authority on the fight.

Though in a contest where the build up was all about the man formerly hailed as the greatest amateur fighter in the world, Lomachenko wasn't going to disappoint his fans. Ramirez had indeed set a fast tempo but Lomachenko remained unflustered and dealt with the pressure, letting his hands go when in range and landing fast combinations to the body and head.  A particular hightlight came in the second round when a four punch combination resulted in each blow finding the head of Ramirez, a sequence which was truly a joy to watch.

The top fighters have an air of calmness about them and this trait appears to be in the make up of Lomachenko. He would continue to pick his shots, patiently breaking down his counterpart in little hurry to charge in on the back of his first round knockdown success, confident the end would come naturally, which it did after another brutal body attack in the fourth round.  In Ramirez own review of the fight he stated "His (Lomachenko) punches to the body hurt more than the punches to my head.  He's so fast.  I'm really hurting".

For a first professional bout against a capable opponent, Lomachenko could have done little more to impress. With the talk leading up to this bout suggesting Lomachenko will fight for a world title in his second professional fight and that he will meet WBA/WBO Super Bantamweight Champion (and another former amateur great) Guillermo Rigondeaux in the not too distant future it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Lomachenko is only 25 years old. With so much time on his side the need for fast tracking him to titles does seem a little puzzling. On the flip side perhaps there is a case that just shy of 400 amateur fights including Olympic and World Championship success will be more beneficial to Lomachenko than the traditional route taken by new fighters to the professional game where they tend to look for victories over 15-20 low level, beatable fighters before looking to seriously step up the level of their opposition or towards championship bouts.

Whether Lomachenko meets newly crowned WBO Featherweight Champion Orlando Salido next time out remains to be seen, in the meantime there is plenty to reflect on and enjoy in this début performance, which is hopefully an indication of  greater things to come

There is a video on ESNews on Youtube of the post fight presser for Salido and Arum brings Lomenchenko in and they face off. It looks more than likely that they will probably fight judging by the video.

Would be crazy if he did win the belt in his 2nd pro fight. Plus he won some sort of WBO International dealie belt. That would probably push him straight into mandatory position the way the WBO work.

Putting him in with salido is a very risky move

Granted he looked good and salido looked poor against Mikey, salido brigs the fire and will be on him from the first bell to the last and we have yet to see Lomachenko under serious pressure

Would be a great achievement and he could easily pull it off he's that good but be wary

Also, surely he is too big for Rigondeux isn't he, Rigo is a small SBW and Lomachenko looked very big the other night

Reborn-DeeMcK-Reborn wrote: That would probably push him straight into mandatory position the way the WBO work.

Apparently he has a contract guaranteeing a title fight in his second pro bout. Bonkers.

Looks like Lomachenko vs Salido will be at Madison Square Gardens on the 25th of January.

Man this guy must be confident or is just that good.

Salido is no mug and has a granite chin and really really comes to smash you up

mobilemaster8 wrote:Man this guy must be confident or is just that good.

Salido is no mug and has a granite chin and really really comes to smash you up

Looked menacing against the woofter. Big as well.

The woofter being Lopez i presume Sean?

didn't catch his fight the other night, did he still look as menacing?

seanmichaels wrote:

Looked menacing against the woofter. Big as well.

You really are the 21st century man, aren't you?

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

seanmichaels wrote:

Looked menacing against the woofter. Big as well.

You really are the 21st century man, aren't you?

Did you see him? He looked bloody ridiculous.

mobilemaster8 wrote:The woofter being Lopez i presume Sean?

didn't catch his fight the other night, did he still look as menacing?

Orlando Cruz. Salido looked menacing against him.

6oldenbhoy wrote:Looks like Lomachenko vs Salido will be at Madison Square Gardens on the 25th of January.

Intriguing fight if this is confirmed just unsure why Lomachenko needs to rush himself considering he is only 25. Wouldn’t think anyone would begrudge him even a handful of fights before taking on Salido.

seanmichaels wrote:

mobilemaster8 wrote:Man this guy must be confident or is just that good.

Salido is no mug and has a granite chin and really really comes to smash you up

Looked menacing against the woofter. Big as well.

Sean, I take it you are a big Tyson Fury fan?

ErmanH wrote:

6oldenbhoy wrote:Looks like Lomachenko vs Salido will be at Madison Square Gardens on the 25th of January.

Intriguing fight if this is confirmed just unsure why Lomachenko needs to rush himself considering he is only 25. Wouldn’t think anyone would begrudge him even a handful of fights before taking on Salido.

He wants to break the record for least fights to a World title.

Plus he looks bloody good.

bhb001 wrote:

seanmichaels wrote:

mobilemaster8 wrote:Man this guy must be confident or is just that good.

Salido is no mug and has a granite chin and really really comes to smash you up

Looked menacing against the woofter. Big as well.

Sean, I take it you are a big Tyson Fury fan?

Nothing against it (unless they want to get married in a church). Just think what he wore on Saturday was about him being, you know, rather than being a boxer.

6oldenbhoy wrote:

ErmanH wrote:

6oldenbhoy wrote:Looks like Lomachenko vs Salido will be at Madison Square Gardens on the 25th of January.

Intriguing fight if this is confirmed just unsure why Lomachenko needs to rush himself considering he is only 25. Wouldn’t think anyone would begrudge him even a handful of fights before taking on Salido.

He wants to break the record for least fights to a World title.

Plus if he is insistent that he is ready then let him go for it. Most fighters who start pro are quick to remind people they are only starting off and one day would like to win a world title. This guy wanted his FIRST fight to be for a world title but the rules wouldn't allow it. If he is sure hes ready then fair play to him.

I was a little underwhelmed by him on Saturday. The second and third rounds he was inviting pressure without really doing a lot.

He did show flashes of real quality. He puts together his combinations very nicely and pivots side to side well too. Didn't really have much of a jab to speak of and he'll need to improve that.

http://v2journal.com/16/post/2013/10/lomachenko-impresses-on-pro-dbut.html?