\u201cReckoned I was headbutting him,\u201d Paro grins.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re into this spar and suddenly he\u2019s whinging, complaining, saying I\u2019m doing this and that \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Which quickly began to wear on the Mackay southpaw.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/content.foxsports.com.au\/fs\/electrode\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Same deal, he recounts now for Fox Sports Australia, another fella watching on from ringside.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, Terence Crawford,\u201d Paro continues, smile widening at the memory. <\/p>\n
\u201cTerence had come into the gym this particular day to watch us spar and could hear Shakur carrying on.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a while, he finally shouts, \u2018well, shut the f*** up and do something then\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd to hear Terence Crawford say that to my opponent? While I was sparring?<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Says plenty about you too, right?<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Shakur Stevenson likes to keep things pretty,\u201d the Aussie shrugs, \u201cbut I\u2019m in a fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether, we were doing 10 four-minute rounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you know me, I\u2019ll just keep fighting until I can\u2019t no more \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
MORE PARO VS PAPOT NEWS<\/p>\n
PRESSER: World title twist as Aussie card rocked by chaos<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018A 10 FOR HEART\u2019: Aussie boxing star hilariously reviews AFL great\u2019s Grand Final stoush<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018HEAD WAS COOKING\u2019: Paro previously lost voice, eyesight in horror weight cut<\/a><\/p>\n HISTORY MADE! Crawford takes out Canelo | 02:15<\/p>\n Which is why only days after Crawford went and shocked the world \u2013 upsetting Mexico\u2019s Saul \u2018Canelo\u2019 Alvarez before an Allegiant Stadium crowd of 70,000 last Sunday \u2013 Paro is now looking to create his own headline.<\/p>\n Or more specifically, punch himself into a world title fight during this Thursday\u2019s IBF eliminator against undefeated Frenchman David Papot.<\/p>\n A boxer since the age of five, Papot certainly hasn\u2019t held back since arriving Down Under this past fortnight.<\/p>\n Apart from initially suggesting he had seen almost zero tape of Paro fighting, the 34-year-old also gave few props when then shown iPhone footage of the Queenslander — branding him \u201cnothing special\u201d.<\/p>\n In 31 professional appearances, Papot has yet to be beaten.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019m the guy,\u201d Paro tells Fox Sports Australia now, \u201cwho will solve that puzzle\u201d.<\/p>\n And from there?<\/p>\n \u201cWorld titles,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Indeed, should Paro hand the unbeaten Frenchman his first loss in 12 years at Pat Rafter Arena this Thursday night, he is then slated to face new IBF welterweight champ Lewis Crocker \u2013 who won said strap against fellow Irishman Paddy Donovan last Sunday. <\/p>\n Fighting only hours before Crawford, Crocker\u2019s own decision victory also represented a huge boilover for the gritty Belfast boy.<\/p>\n “On Points”: Paro on Lynch’s ’04 fight | 00:27<\/p>\n Yet while No Limit are convinced Paro will now be next for the fighting Irishman with a victory this week, Crocker\u2019s own management \u2013 led by Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn \u2013 are talking differently.<\/p>\n Immediately after Sunday\u2019s win, Hearn suggested his newest champion could potentially go straight into a title showdown against popular Englishman Conor Benn, who is also part of the Matchroom stable. <\/p>\n Intriguingly, Paro was also himself once signed to Hearn.<\/p>\n However, the Aussie insists there isn\u2019t any lingering bad blood with the heavyweight English promoter \u2013 and certainly not enough to prevent a world title fight.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019m not surprised by the Benn talk,\u201d he shrugs.<\/p>\n \u201cEddie Hearn, he wants to keep that belt inside his stable.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they know if I get to Lewis Crocker, I also get his belt.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what it is.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know he fights me, and I take the belt from him.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd promoters want to keep all the jewels.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘Dramatic 24 hours’ after card chaos | 00:59<\/p>\n Regardless, Paro also quickly pointed to No Limit\u2019s strong relationship with heavyweight US promoters PBC, who themselves have two welterweight champions of their own — Mario Barrios and Rolando \u2018Rolly\u2019 Romero.<\/p>\n \u201cSo the Rose boys can put me in the opposite corner to any world champion,\u201d Paro continues, \u201cand I\u2019ll be happy.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I\u2019m confident I can beat any of them.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd with the influence No Limit have globally, I know they can get me that world title shot with a win on Thursday night.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd can bring the fight Down Under, too.<\/p>\n \u201cHow awesome would that be?<\/p>\n \u201cSo I don\u2019t care who it is, line \u2018em all up.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause that\u2019s what means the most to me \u2026 and I am going to win a world title here.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite only signing with No Limit this year, and now being billed as something of a breakout pay-per-view star, Paro is no stranger to big fights \u2013 earning his own huge upset against IBF super lightweight king Subriel Matias last year.<\/p>\n It was during the build to that bout where Paro spent several months Stateside, sparring the likes of Stevenson, Devin Haney and Romero. <\/p>\n Paro out to make a statement in WW debut | 01:50<\/p>\n Despite then losing his first title defence against American Richardson Hitchins, Paro has since revealed how a torturous weight cut not only impacted his preparation, but convinced he and his team to begin this new world title tilt.<\/p>\n Ironically too, in the welterweight division where Crawford once reigned undisputed.<\/p>\n Asked about \u2018Bud\u2019 climbing two weight classes to upset Alvarez in last Sunday\u2019s \u2018Fight of the Century\u2019, Paro continues: \u201cJust one word \u2026 wow.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone already knew how good Terence Crawford was, but now he\u2019s gone and really certified it. <\/p>\n \u201cThe guy is a generational talent; an absolute freak.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just glad I\u2019ve been here to watch him fight \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Same deal, of course, having also now had the big fella watch him work up close.<\/p>\n And as for any other memories from that spar with Stevenson, now the reigning WBC lightweight king?<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, I\u2019ve still got a picture of Shakur and I from that day,\u201d Paro smiles. \u201cIt\u2019s on my Instagram page, both of us stood there together after the spar.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you can see by the look on Shakur\u2019s face, he is upset.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n \u201cLet him be salty.\u201d <\/p>\n Paro vs Papot | THURSDAY 18 SEPT 7PM AEST | Liam Paro\u2019s quest to recapture gold continues, as he moves up in weight to take on undefeated Frenchman David Papot, with the winner set up to compete for the IBF Welterweight Title. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liam Paro was deep into a Las Vegas sparring session against Shakur Stevenson when, he says, the American…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-148409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}