By Ian S Palmer
WBO Featherweight Champion Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine steps into the ring with veteran Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo of Thailand this Saturday, November 22 in Macau, China. The 12-round bout is on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs Chris Algieri fight and can be seen on HBO pay-per-view in North America and on BoxNation in Britain. Lomachenko is regarded as one of boxing’s best-ever amateurs and won a pro title in just his third fight.
The 26-year-old Lomachenko will climb through the ring ropes with a record of 2-1 with 1 Ko while the 29-year-old Piriyapinyo has an impressive mark of 52-1 along with 33 Kos. Lomachenko stands 5-feet-six-inches tall while the challenger is half an inch shorter. The champion is a southpaw and has fought just 28 rounds as a pro. Piriyapinyo on the other hand, has 379 pro rounds under his belt. But while Piriyapinyo has a lot of pro experience, he’s fought lower-grade opponents in Asia other than a 2012 fight against Chris John, which was his only loss and came via a unanimous decision.
Lomachenko has just three pro fights to his name, but he’s fought in a pair of world title bouts and is already a world champion. That shouldn’t come as too much of a shock since he won two gold medals in the Olympic Games for Ukraine. Records also show that he went 396-1 as an amateur. He turned pro just over a year ago and stopped Jose Ramirez in the fourth round in his first contest. He then challenged WBO Featherweight king Orlando Salido of Mexico in his second pro bout.
Salido failed to make the weight and forfeited his title, but he had a huge weight advantage when the bout began. Salido reverted to his usual veteran and borderline tactics as he won a controversial split decision. Lomachenko improved as the fight went on though and narrowly missed winning the belt. However, things were different in his third fight as he took on the undefeated Gary Russell Jr for the vacant WBO belt and came out with a majority decision victory.
It’s hard to say how good Piriyapinyo is because he hasn’t faced many recognizable opponents and several of them have had losing records. But in general, Thai boxers bring a lot of heart and energy into the ring with them along with a never-say-die attitude. Piriyapinyo has pretty good power in his fists and a solid chin, but Lomachenko also has a good chin and should be able to handle the challenger’s biggest shots.
Lomachenko has exceptional technical skills and can adapt to any situation in the ring. He isn’t the hardest puncher in the world, but has slightly better-than-average power. Piriyapinyo likes to apply the pressure and will try to outwork the champion and possibly take him out if he sees an opportunity. However, he needs to make sure that he doesn’t leave himself wide open and has to be aware of Lomachenko’s body attack.
Prediction
Piriyapinyo needs to get off to a good start and make sure Lomachenko can’t settle into a rhythm. He’s also going to have to utilize his jab as well as show some mobility in the ring. Lomachenko will calculate the distance and fire out his own jab while slipping punches and trying t land cleanly. The challenger has a fantastic record on paper, but it’s hard to properly judge his skills due to his opponents. When he took on Chris John he didn’t live up to his billing and that scenario is likely to repeat itself here. Look for Lomachenko to keep his title by a decision.
