By Alexey Sukachev and Yuri Tarantin (Allboxing.ru)

Last Saturday night in San Antonio, Vasyl Lomachenko (1-1, 1 KO or 7-1, 1KO to others) made a very ambitious move by taking a significant step up in competition by taking on three-time and reigning world champion Orlando Salido in a fight for the WBO featherweight title. Salido was only Lomachenko's second opponent outside of the World Series of Boxing.

The Ukrainian talent pushed Salido to the limit, but lost a twelve round split decision in the end. Lomachenko came very close to stopping Salido in the final round. Lomachenko reflected on his first pro loss with Allboxing.ru/BoxingScene.com.

“First of all, I want to thank all of my fans and supporters. I have already reviewed the tape a couple of times, scoring the contest myself. In my mind, it was an even fight but – as a challenger – I should have proved considerable superiority over my opponent, by winning the match-up much more comfortably. It didn't happen and I failed to achieve what I should have. I consider the decision to be fair," Lomachenko said.

“The only one to blame for such an outcome is myself, because I didn't follow the full scope of the game plan and ideas, which my beloved father-trainer put together and explained to me. I didn't follow the pre-fight plan at about 40%, making the biggest mistake with my decreased activity. I didn’t throw enough punches. Perhaps, I was trying to preserve enough energy for the closing rounds."

"In any case, I don’t want to concentrate on any complaints and excuses. I have a lot of work to do in the gym. Now I’m superbly pumped up and my desire for training is higher than ever. We – myself and my team – will learn this lesson and I will become stronger than we were before. Once again, I want to thank my family and my team. Thanks to all of those supporters and critics, who were carefully watching my fight. Thank you so much.”