Most American fight fans aren?t all that familiar with Thailand?s Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo.
Bob Arum knows, though, that Piriyapinyo is more than capable of testing Vasyl Lomachenko on the Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri pay-per-view undercard Nov. 22 in Macau, China, which was officially announced Thursday. The 29-year-old Piriyapinyo has lost just once during his 10-year pro career, and the defeat came against former WBA featherweight champ Chris John (48-1-3, 22 KOs). Piriyapinyo (52-1, 33 KOs) is 8-0, including six knockouts, since John beat him by unanimous decision (119-109, 119-109, 117-111) in their November 2012 title fight in Singapore.
His last four opponents entered their bouts with a combined record of 55-45-6, but Piriyapinyo is the WBO?s mandatory challenger for the 126-pound championship Ukraine?s Lomachenko won against Gary Russell Jr. (24-1, 14 KOs) in his last fight, June 21 in Carson, Calif.
?I?m thrilled about the undercard,? Arum said. ?To watch Lomachenko against a real opponent, the No. 1 contender, a guy who has lost one fight in his whole career, that?s a good fight. But Lomachenko is just so good, as you saw with Gary Russell.?
The 26-year-old Lomachenko (2-1, 1 KO) lost a split decision to Mexico?s Orlando Salido (41-12-2, 28 KOs, 1 NC) in his previous fight, just the second of his professional career, March 1 at Alamodome in San Antonio. Bouncing back to top the previously unbeaten Russell proved to Arum that Lomachenko?s ambition was warranted when the two-time Olympic gold medalist signed with Arum?s Top Rank Inc. during the summer of 2013.
?He?s a great fighter,? Arum said. ?Salido took him by surprise. That was his second fight. Salido was over the weight and the referee let Salido get away with a lot of dirty stuff that Lomachenko wasn?t used to. It was a great learning experience. But he is enormously talented and he almost won that Salido fight. He almost took Salido out.?
