Liam Paro is the new IBF junior welterweight champion of the world.
The man known as ‘The Prodigy’ lived up to his billing, staving off stern assaults from Puerto Rican powerhouse Subriel Matias at the Coliseo Juan Aubin Cruz Abreu in Manati, Puerto Rico on Saturday night.
As was to be expected, the 32-year-old Matias 20-2 (20) started slowly, allowing Paro 25-0 (15) to bank some early rounds.
It was evident as early as the second heat that this was an away game for the 28-year-old Australian.
Local referee Luis Pabon warned Paro for pawing with the jab and chewed up precious seconds in the corner at the end of the second frame as he admonished the visitor for perceived infringements.
The mind games didn’t matter much to Paro, though. The challenger stuck to his game plan, pecking and poking with annoying punches up and down, occasionally mixing in a hard body shot to keep Matias honest.
The heavy-handed Matias was abundantly confident coming on to the fight. And why shouldn’t he be? His previous five opponents had quit on their stools, unable to sustain any more punishment from his blugeoning shots.
Paro proved he is cut from a different cloth.
Mixing up his attack from long range to in close, Paro was the busier fighter through the first four frames. And when Matias came on in the middle rounds, he stood his ground and kept touching the titleholder with sharp punches.
The sixth round was a bit rugged for Paro, who seemed to be hurt late in the stanza. He stuck fat though, weathering the storm.
Referee Pabon again injected himself into the contest in the seventh stanza when he inexplicitly docked Paro a point for a phantom infringement.
Lesser boxers would’ve gone to water. Not Paro. Expertly instructed by trainer Alfie Di Carlo, Paro stayed focused while Matias unravelled.
Everything Matias had tried before no longer worked. The power, the pysicality, the mental warfare. It had no currency against a determined Paro, who refused to wilt.
Coming in to the championship rounds, it was Paro who came home with a wet sail.
When the dust settled, the right man was awarded the victory in what will be regarded as one of the best away victories for an Austrlaian fighter.
“We fuckin’ did it. I’m a fuckin’ man of my word,” Paro said to DAZN’s Chris Mannix. “To all the fuckin’ people who said I couldn’t do it… It’s Paro Time!”
Promoter Eddie Hearn dipped his lid to the new champ.
“We said he’d have to get his respect, he did that,” the Matchroom Boxing boss said in a post-fight interview.
“He pushed him back, he boxed off the back foot. It was an absolute masterclass, I had it so wide.
“With three or four rounds to go, Matias needed a knockout. It wasn’t even close, it was a masterclass from Liam Paro.
“And to come to Puerto Rico, the backyard of the guy that no-one wanted to fight, that is a massive win for Liam Paro, a massive win for Australian boxing.”
