Robson Conceiçāo, gold medalist from Brazil, signs with Top Rank

Robson Conceiçāo, who won gold at lightweight at the Rio Olympics, has signed a deal with Top Rank, and is turning professional, an expected move, and a nice get for the promotional firm.

Conceiçāo, 27, is the first-ever boxing gold medalist from Brazil, defeating France’s Sofiane Oumiha in the final on August 16. He had previously scored an upset — albeit not a huge one, as Conceiçāo was considered a contender for gold — over top-seeded Lázaro Álvarez of Cuba.

He will make his pro debut on November 5, when he fights on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs Jessie Vargas event at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The deal will be formally announced in Rio de Janeiro on September 9, according to ESPN.com, who spoke with Top Rank’s Todd duBoef.

“The most important thing to me was the incredible connection he has to those fans in Brazil,” duBoef said. “That was A, No. 1. The fighting style, his speed, his power, what he does with his right hand or his left hand — I will leave that to my matchmakers. But his marketability is sensational, absolutely over the top.”

Conceiçāo is at an advanced age coming in as a pro, but as we’ve seen in recent years, many top Olympic prospects and top amateur prospects in general aren’t being treated with kid gloves for quite as long as we’ve been used to over the years, and Top Rank fast-tracked Vasyl Lomachenko. While Lomachenko is a special case, in that he’s one of the greatest amateurs of all-time, Conceiçāo could certainly find himself in notable fights by his 10th time out, if he looks good as a pro.