By Alexey Sukachev
First things first, but in the case of Vasily Lomachenko first things differ drastically from just a professional debut. According to manager Egis Klimas, who has accompanied the much-hyped Ukrainian amateur megastar during his recent stay in the United States, Vasily wants his first fight in paid ranks to be a real championship affair.
"Vasily targets a championship title in his first professional fight - that's true", confirmed Klimas to the Voice of America media agency. "He doesn't want to waste time fighting push-overs and second-tier opponents, like some promoters tend to feed their prospects with. If Vasily heads the way he has been offered lately, he can end up earning more than $4,000,000 by the end of the year. But, please, understand, that these fights should be won in the very first place, and it's not an easy deal. Vasily is known well around the sport. he has proved everything as an amateur. All, who work in pro boxing, want him here and now".
According to Klimas, at least several promoters confirm their desire to provide the Ukrainian two-time Olympic and two-time world champion with important fights from the get-go. The short list inculdes Main Events, Top Rank and the Golden Boy. Rumors say that Vasily was offered a spot in the televised piece of Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Timothy Bradley undercard. Lomachenko plans to start his pro career at 126 lbs, where current champions include: Abner Mares (WBC), Chris John (WBA Super), Evgueny Gradovich (IBF), Mikey Garcia (WBO) and Nicholas Walters (WBA).
There were several cases in the history of boxing, when debutants took part in the championship fights - mostly in lower weight classes under strange, shady circumstances, like it was the case in Rafael Lovera debut (KO 4 loss to Luis "Lumumba" Estaba in 1975). The most notable sample of this sort and a direct analogue with Lomachenko is 1956 Melbourne heavyweight gold medalist Pete Rademacher. The Olympic champion debuted in 1957 in a heavyweight title bout with the undisputed champion Floyd Patterson, dropped him in the second round but was floored himself six times en route to a bitter KO 6 loss.
