Vasyl Lomachenko, the two time gold medalist, has already had an impact in the boxing landscape in just three fights. He currently holds the WBO featherweight title belt, and will defend it for the first time in Macau, China on November 22. His opponent will be Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo who is 52-1 with 33 knockouts.
Arum told the press, Piriyapinyo is a notable opponent, and should not be taken lightly.
“Lomachenko, really this is his only 4th professional fight. He’s fighting a Thai guy who hasn’t lost in eight years, and has 51 wins and one defeat, something like that. He lost eight years ago to Chris John the long reigning featherweight champion. Of the guy’s 51 or 52 victories, 50 of them have been by knockout, so Lomachenko has his work cut out for him. Believe me his fight on November 22 is hardly a gimmick. The Thai guy deserves his number one ranking and so that should be a very good fight.”
Despite Arum’s appraisal of Piriyanpinyo’s record, the hype surrounding the fight is meniscal in comparison to a possible match between Vasyl Lomachenko and Nicholas Walters. The reason being is even though Piriyanpinyo’s record is quite impressive, he lacks notable wins in his resume. His last four opponents have a combined record of 57 wins and 45 losses.
This fight bears a resemblance of the last time a two time gold medalist faced a relatively unknown opponent in Macau, China; Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Sod Kokeitgym. At the time they fought, Kokietgym was 63-2-1, but the mismatch was evident from the opening bell in favor of Rigondeaux.
Arum also noted Piriyanpinyo’s record contained 50 knockout victories, when in fact he only has 33 knockout wins. Whether the fight will be another mismatch remains to be seen, but this is the reason why it hasn’t drawn much anticipation from fight fans.
Fortunately for the boxing world, if Lomachenko does in fact defeat Piriyanpinyo, a bout with Walters is very likely to occur in 2015.
Arum stated, “If Lomachenko is successful I would anticipate making Lomachenko and Walters sometime next year.”
“It would be silly if they don’t [fight] some time next year.”
