I believe he fought for an inaugural title at one of the lowest weights, in his first fight, but I can't remember who he was.
3 world title challengers finished with a 0-1 pro record: Arturo Mayan, Joves De La Puz and Joko Arter. You're probably thinking of Arter, who was ko'd in the 2nd round by Min Keun OH in IBF's first featherweight title fight back in 1984.
Rafael Lovera, whom never fought before, fought Luis Estaba for the WBC light flyweight title. It actually wasn't the inaugural title though. Franco Udella won their inaugural title but thought so little of it he never defended it, so they had Estaba fighting Lovera for the vacant title and tried to pass Lovera along as a solid contender. But some sharp-eyed writer finally discovered Lovera had never had a fight before.
Pete Rademacher was 0-1, as a professional, after he fought Patterson for The Lineal Heavyweight Title. He did finish his career with 23 professional fights, so that may disqualify him from this thread. It's still interesting, though, because it's very unusual for any World Lineal Title, and especially so at Heavyweight. (And Rademacher even knocked the Champ down once in that fight.)
