WASHINGTON, October 10 (RIA Novosti) – A two-time Olympic gold medalist from Ukraine will make his professional boxing debut in the United States on Saturday and he has been promised a world title shot in his second fight if he wins his first, according to US media reports.
Featherweight boxer Vasyl Lomachenko, 25, who won gold medals at the Beijing and London Olympics, will face Mexico’s Jose "Negro" Ramirez, a 28-fight veteran with 15 knockouts to his credit in a 10-round bout in Las Vegas Saturday, according to ESPN.com.
It is highly unusual for a fighter to face such an experienced opponent in his first professional match, but Lomachenko is already regarded as one of “the greatest amateur boxes ever” and was “pursued by every major promoter” according to Yahoo Sports.
In fact, Lomachenko is so confident that he originally wanted a world title shot in his first professional match, which has only happened twice before, ESPN.com reported.
"I want to make boxing history, and to do that there's only one way – go fast and show everybody what I can do," Lomachenko told ESPN.com through his manager and translator Egis Klimas.
Lomachenko agreed with promoter Bob Arum of Las Vegas-based Top Rank Boxing that he would wait until his second fight for a chance at the featherweight world title.
The title match will happen in January if Lomachenko defeats Ramirez in Las Vegas, ESPN.com reported.
