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Vasyl Lomachenko won two Olympic gold medals and compiled an amateur record of 396-1. He would have to be on any shortlist for the greatest amateur boxers who have ever lived.

When Lomachenko turned professional in 2013, he wasted no time moving into the deep end of boxing's talent pool. He fought the experienced Jose Ramirez in his debut, winning by Round 4 knockout in a scheduled 10-rounder.

In his second fight, Lomachenko faced the tough WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido. Salido didn't even try to make weight and was over 140 pounds by the night of the fight. He gave Lomachenko a crash course in the rough and bruising reality of professional prizefighting, winning by split decision.

I thought Lomachenko deserved to lose that fight, but I was impressed by the fact that he got better as the fight went along and was in control for much of the latter third of the fight. He was clearly learning and implementing his new knowledge on the fly against a world championship-level opponent.

Lomachenko faced fellow unbeaten Gary Russell Jr. in his third fight, capturing the vacant WBO featherweight belt by majority decision. This time, I thought Lomachenko clearly deserved to win. It's tough for me to see how judge Lisa Giampa scored the bout even.

At just 26 and with a world-title belt already around his waist, Lomachenko is poised to become a breakout star over the next few years. Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo would seem a decided step down in competition.

Piriyapinyo has an impressive record on paper, but he's fought some very low-level competition. Just this year he has faced a guy who was 2-2 and another who was 1-10.

But Piriyapinyo did face Chris John in 2012. Although Piriyapinyo lost nearly every round, he did manage to rock the longtime champion in Round 7. The Thai native's power is legitimate.