Who had the most difficult resumes turning pro?

Pete Rademacher obviously. Had an Olympic medal and challenged Floyd Patterson in his debut.

 

Several of the Thais had near immediate title shots upon getting into pure boxing, but they have generally been doing pro fights since they were 8 or 9. Rademacher fought floyd patterson in his debut. Tyrone Spong needs a big step up in competition, World class kickboxer before he shattered his shin bone and is currently crushing cans despite already competing at a world level in a combat sport.

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Oleg Maskaev turned pro against an undefeated, former bronze olympic medalist.
Kwang-Sun Kim faced Michael Carbajal and Humberto Gonzales under 10 fights.
People mentioned Rademacher, but he didn't only faced Patterson in his debut, he faced Folley in his SECOND fight.

 

Joe Louis fought the best heavyweight in Chicago which back then was quite a prestigious feat. Probably wasn't what you were looking for but I figured I would put it out there since it was the first thing that came to my head for some reason.

 

How do you figure that when he was beaten in his prior fight by a fellow Chicagan??

 

Leon Spinks

 

Fred Apostoli was 6-0 as a professional when he took on Freddie Steele who was 93-2-11.
It was his first 10-round fight (moving up from 6 rounders) and he gave Steele a tough fight before being stopped in the 10th.

Steele carried on winning and didn't lose until he faced Apostoli again a couple of years later. Steele was 120-2-11 when Apostoli (now 27-2) beat him.

 

Rafael Lovera also fought for the world title in his debut against Luis Estaba, but everything about him was fabricated. If I was looking specifically at fighters thrown in at the deep end of the pool I would look no further than Jimmy Ellis and Eddie Machen. Within his first 20 fights Ellis fought Holly Mims (twice), Wilfie Greaves, Henry Hank, Georgie Benton, Hurricane Carter, Don Fullmer and Rory Calhoun. Likewise, within 20 fights Machen fought Nino Valdez (twice), Joey Maxim, Johnny Holman, Johnny Summerlin, Julio Mederos (twice) and Howard King. Man, they were thrown in tough.

 

a lot of the pre- old timers from the 19th century fought so little and only when it counted, few real fillers, their resume quality is often largely solid.

 

I didn't figure it I read it in a book about Joe Louis.

 

2 division titlist having knocked out the #1 guy in both divisions in 8 fights- absolutely insane. That's special enough in its own right, but it's worth remembering he was only 21 when he did it.

 

Holyfield's 15 round win over Qawi in his 12th professional fight is impressive.
Qawi was a beast really, with plenty of experience.
Holyfield had been 8 rounds once, and the fight with Qawi went the full 15.
That's got to be considered difficult.

 

Pretty sure I also read somewhere that every single pro fight Joe Louis had was a 'Main Event'?! Not sure if he's a one that although to be fair wouldn't be surprised if AJ follows in that vane