decision win over Frenchman David Papot at the same venue last September.<\/a><\/p>\nShould the 30-year-old Queenslander be successful, he will join an elite list of Australian boxers to have won titles in multiple divisions \u2014 including Fenech, Anthony Mundine, Vic Darchinyan and Danny Green.<\/p>\n
Paro will also become the first Australian-born fighter since Fenech to win gold in multiple divisions involving the four major organisations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019m ready to make Australian boxing history,\u201d Paro said following Tuesday\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the kind of moment you dream about as a kid. To fight for another world title at home in Australia is massive.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there\u2019s no easy road here.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrocker is undefeated and champion for a reason. And he\u2019s coming in full of confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019ve built my career the hard way. I\u2019ve travelled the world, fought in hostile environments and already beaten one of the most dangerous champions in boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI truly believe I\u2019m levels above anyone he has faced and I can\u2019t wait to make history on June 24 in Brisbane.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liam Paro.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
The title headliner comes as another star of the division, WBC champ Ryan Garcia, has also spent the past few weeks talking up potential championship showdowns against either WBO king Devin Haney or WBA champ Rolly Romero.<\/p>\n
A win over Crocker will also suddenly see Paro go into the mix for some of the sport\u2019s biggest names.<\/p>\n
No Limit Boxing CEO George Rose, meanwhile, described the bout as exactly the event Australian boxing had been demanding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a proper world title fight,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd between two guys in their prime who both believe they\u2019re about to take over the division.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got Liam Paro, who has already gone overseas and done what most fighters only talk about doing. He went into Puerto Rico against one of the most avoided fighters in world boxing and ripped the belt away from him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen on the other side you\u2019ve got Lewis Crocker \u2014 undefeated, world champion, massive support behind him in Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he\u2019s coming here with absolutely zero fear about fighting Liam in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t smoke and mirrors. This isn\u2019t a manufactured fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are two legitimate world level fighters risking everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won the purse bid because we believed this fight belonged in Australia and now Brisbane gets a world title event that will absolutely deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Butcher’s Brutal Masterclass! | 02:01<\/p>\n
While Paro-Cocker was initially slated for early April, they bout had to be postponed after the Belfast champ suffered a hand injury in training.<\/p>\n
There was also then a second unconfirmed delay, this time from the Australian\u2019s side, which prevented the match up taking place on the same card as Nikita Tszyu\u2019s most recent win over Spaniard Oscar Diaz.<\/p>\n
But No Limit have now confirmed the fight is set for Brisbane in June.<\/p>\n
While Crocker is defending champion, Paro will be looking to create history in his own state after Australian promoters No Limit won a purse bid for the event against Eddie Hearn\u2019s Matchroom Boxing \u2013 and by just $27,000.<\/p>\n
Initially, both promoters lodged private purse bids which were then unveiled during a February zoom call involving IBF executives and representatives of both camps.<\/p>\n
The Rose boys had lodged a bid of $1.152M.<\/p>\n
Hearn\u2019s stable, meanwhile, offered $1.125M<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is everything I\u2019ve wanted,\u201d Paro said earlier this year about the showdown with Crocker.<\/p>\n
Lewis Crocker celebrates victory with his belt after the IBF World Welterweight Title fight between Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan at Windsor Park on September 13, 2025 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI never got the chance as a world champion to defend a title on home soil, so to now fight for another world title in Australia is something special.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve already proven I can win a world title anywhere. Now it\u2019s time to make history at home, follow in the footsteps of a legend like Jeff Fenech, and become a two-time world champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo Limit Boxing went to work and delivered this. They backed me, they believed in me, and now we get to do this in front of Australian fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless, Crocker has already stressed several times that he is happy to travel Down Under and defend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won my world title in Belfast,\u201d the Irishman told Talk Sport earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had my moment, so I will travel anywhere\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cBut going to Australia and beating the ex-champion in his home country will be special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recent history would also suggest Crocker also has no problem with Paro being a southpaw, having beaten another leftie, countryman Paddy Donovan, in his two previous outings.<\/p>\n
\u201c[And] I think Paddy Donovan is as good a fighter as Liam Paro,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot bigger physically. The two back-to-back camps I trained for Donovan are going to help me massively in this fight \u2013 especially the southpaw stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen Paro\u2019s most recent fight [against David Papot] and he got hurt a few times against a guy with five knockouts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liam Paro is readying to ink his name alongside Australian boxing great Jeff Fenech \u2014 while also catapulting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[2095,43476,64,63,689,2802,2763,802,651,321677,321672,117860,9915,278767,2057,321673,316509,321675,11862,2105,25821,29973,31550,26779,27662,321678,30028,321670,211333,673,10668,2782,11876,2041,2067,3583,5492,677,30029,321676,41634,154549,701,94020,37653,283039,85,321674,279722,2614,2768,2753,321671,2836,321669,54814],"class_list":["post-666326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-america","tag-anthony-mundine","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-boxing","tag-australian-boxing-history","tag-boxing","tag-brisbane","tag-championship-showdowns","tag-charles-mcquillan","tag-danny-green","tag-eddie-hearn","tag-elite-list","tag-europe","tag-event-australian-boxing","tag-fight-highlights","tag-frenchman-david-papot","tag-george-rose","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-hand-injury","tag-home-country","tag-home-soil","tag-ireland","tag-jeff-fenech","tag-level-fighters-risking","tag-lewis-crocker","tag-multiple-divisions","tag-n-tszyu","tag-new-south-wales","tag-newcastle","tag-nick-walshaw","tag-nikita-tszyu","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-northern-europe","tag-northern-ireland","tag-oceania","tag-paddy-donovan","tag-private-purse-bids","tag-puerto-rico","tag-purse-bid","tag-queensland","tag-rolly-romero","tag-ryan-garcia","tag-spaniard-oscar-diaz","tag-sports","tag-star-history-bid","tag-title-headliner","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-vic-darchinyan","tag-world-champion","tag-world-level-fighters","tag-world-title","tag-world-title-event","tag-world-title-fight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666326","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=666326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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