Vasyl Lomachenko v Jorge Linares on May 12th NYC

[Ron Swanson]

What a professional fight is is defined.

No headgear, no shirt, getting paid. Loma didn't fight for a title in his 2nd pro fight. He had like 6 pro fights before his "pro" career began. He is one of the best, he was ready to fight championship level.

Splitting hairs here, but ok. So Lomachenko fought in the World Series of Boxing between '12 and '13, and some consider those "pro" fights. Depends on who you talk to, I guess. Lomachenko himself would argue they were NOT professional fights, seeing as to how he was trying to set a new world record for winning a world title in the fewest number of pro fights. The facts themselves would seem to support Lomachenko, what with the 5-round fight limits, and an apparent difference in the gloves. (There's other differences as well). Doesn't matter, really. Throughout the history of boxing, there's been more than a handful of fighters out of the gate who appear to be something special from the start of their pro career. And I'm not talking 40-0 taking on a bunch of bums in your backyard. I'm talking guys who climb quickly in the course of 10-15 pro fights, with ever increasing quality of opponent. Soon they get their shot. But it's not some artificial ruse to "set some record" or anything like that. Again, Lomachenko proved to be worthy. My point is so would have lots of other guys who ended up having to wait.

I get ya, not even arguing with you. Was just saying dude was getting paid, fighting without headgear or a shirt. By the people that defined what a professional fight is he was a professional fighter. Just talking, not disagreeing or agreeing.

[TitoFan]

What a professional fight is is defined.

No headgear, no shirt, getting paid. Loma didn't fight for a title in his 2nd pro fight. He had like 6 pro fights before his "pro" career began. He is one of the best, he was ready to fight championship level.

Splitting hairs here, but ok. So Lomachenko fought in the World Series of Boxing between '12 and '13, and some consider those "pro" fights. Depends on who you talk to, I guess. Lomachenko himself would argue they were NOT professional fights, seeing as to how he was trying to set a new world record for winning a world title in the fewest number of pro fights. The facts themselves would seem to support Lomachenko, what with the 5-round fight limits, and an apparent difference in the gloves. (There's other differences as well). Doesn't matter, really. Throughout the history of boxing, there's been more than a handful of fighters out of the gate who appear to be something special from the start of their pro career. And I'm not talking 40-0 taking on a bunch of bums in your backyard. I'm talking guys who climb quickly in the course of 10-15 pro fights, with ever increasing quality of opponent. Soon they get their shot. But it's not some artificial ruse to "set some record" or anything like that. Again, Lomachenko proved to be worthy. My point is so would have lots of other guys who ended up having to wait.

I get ya, not even arguing with you. Was just saying dude was getting paid, fighting without headgear or a shirt. By the people that defined what a professional fight is he was a professional fighter. Just talking, not disagreeing or agreeing.

You got a valid point, though. Sometimes the line between amateur and pro becomes blurred, and this is probably one of those instances. Regardless, you'll get no argument from me that Loma is in fact a special talent. Looking forward to his future fights.