Australia has a new world champion after Queenslander Liam Paro delivered a stunning upset to dethrone the highly-fancied Subriel Matias in his own backyard to claim a surprise IBF super lightweight world title.
The unsung 28-year-old southpaw was a 6-1 outsider entering the bout in Puerto Rico with IBF junior-welterweight champion Matias boasting a 20-1 record with 20 KOs. Even Paro himself described the task to take the title as “almost mission impossible.”
The 32-year-old Puerto Rican was famously described by promoter Eddie Hearn as the “boogeyman” of the super lightweight division, but Paro cheekily countered the claim by saying he was a “million per cent” sure he could put the frighteners on Matias.
“This is what dreams are made of ... I’m ready to get it on,” Paro had told broadcaster DAZN after the weigh-in earlier this week. “He’s a tremendous champion, but I believe I’ve had the right prep to shock the world. I’m ready. This is my time.”
And so it proved. In a major boilover, the No 5-ranked Australian underdog won a fiercely-contested bout via unanimous decision (115-112 x 2, 116-111) in front of a raucous crowd at the Coliseo Juan Aubin Cruz Abreu in Manati.
Paro’s stunning victory was the 25th in his career and preserves his unbeaten record, while inflicting the first loss Matias has suffered in five fights.
The gamesmanship from Matias was on full display from the get-go, entering the ring after a long delay with Puerto Rican rappers Yovngchimi and Nengo Flow by his side and singing his praises en route to the ring. The fanfare didn’t affect Paro as the Australian banked rounds early against the notoriously slow-starting Puerto Rican.
Having conserved energy and thrown precious few blows in the early clinches, Matias finally woke up and landed some powerful flurries in the middle rounds. It was a familiar tactic, the 32-year-old famous for surviving early attacks before punching his way out of trouble in the latter rounds.
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But Paro proved ready for the tactic. “I know what I’m getting into,” he’d said at the weigh-in. “I’m coming into the lion’s den. Full respect to him, but I know it’s going to get down and dirty. This is the biggest test, so I’m ready for anything.”
And he was. After starting aggressively and hanging on bravely when the inevitable storm swept in. Paro also stayed calm when he suffered a point deduction in the seventh round for leading with his head then iced victory by winning the final rounds.
“I’m a true warrior. I’ve got the heart of a lion. I showed that,” Paro said afterwards, citing superior jabs, uppercuts and combination punches as the secret to his success. “I keep proving everybody wrong. I took the biggest test, and I came out on top.”