who arrived into Australia two weeks early for the showdown<\/a>, has been agreeable to a run of media interviews in Brisbane, he and his team refused a request from promoters No Limit to also face off with Paro <\/p>\nInstead, that is expected to happen for the first time tonight at a Grand Arrivals function.<\/p>\n
Card confirmed for Tszyu v Spence Jnr | 00:52<\/p>\n
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia this week meanwhile, Tszyu has predicted Paro will make history in Brisbane by becoming the first Australian-born fighter since Jeff Fenech to win world titles in more than one weight division.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Phoenix\u2019 also suggested Paro has had the perfect preparation for his showdown against Crocker \u2013 convinced the man he beat to earn this world title shot, Frenchman David Papot, was actually tougher.<\/p>\n
Back in September last year, and in his first fight as a genuine welterweight, Paro earned a tough decision win against Papot inside Pat Rafter Arena, taking the scorecards 116-112, 116-112, 117-111.<\/p>\n
Initially, that fight was supposed to pitch Paro into a world title eliminator against Paddy Donovan, who has himself lost in consecutive title fights to Crocker.<\/p>\n
But after Donovan withdrew from a scheduled bout through illness, Paro was then pitched straight into a title fight \u2013 which has itself been delayed since April after the Belfast champ suffered a hand injury in training.<\/p>\n
Importantly, Paro is now gunning to create history in his own backyard, and after Australian promoters No Limit won a purse bid for the event against Eddie Hearn\u2019s Matchroom Boxing 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 $1.152 million.<\/p>\n
Hearn\u2019s stable, meanwhile, offered $1.125 million.<\/p>\n
The headliner is also a chance for Paro to create Australian sports history after having Aldo upset Subriel Matias for the IBF super lightweight crown in 2024.<\/p>\n
‘I wanted to go to Australia’ | 02:05<\/p>\n
Should the 30-year-old be successful, he will join an elite list of Australian boxers to have won titles in multiple divisions \u2013 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
All of which has Tszyu convinced of success for his mate.<\/p>\n
In fact, the former world champ \u2013 who is preparing for his own blockbuster against American superstar Errol Spence Jnr next month \u2013 stressed Paro has already proved himself against a tougher fighter at his new weight.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause that last guy Liam fought,\u201d Tszyu said of Papot, \u201cI honestly believe he\u2019s a better fighter than Lewis Crocker.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember watching that fight and thinking \u2018what the hell?\u2019. That guy was an absolute monster \u2026 and Liam Paro passed the test.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a fight that basically went life and death. And Liam, he got it done.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s why I\u2019m tipping Liam Paro all day in this is the fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously Lewis Crocker is tough fighter. And he\u2019s undefeated for a reason. But from everything that I have seen of both guys, Paro has got him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Tszyu also dubbed Paro one of Australia\u2019s smartest fighters. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just so smart, really intelligent,\u201d the former world champ said. \u201cAnd with dynamite in his hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crocker, meanwhile, is happy to play the role of underdog away from home.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy last fight was in my hometown stadium, a fight that Eddie [Hearn] got me where I won the world title,\u201c he said this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo for me, winning the world title will never be as good anywhere else as it was that last time, so I\u2019m happy to fight abroad and it builds the legacy. <\/p>\n
\u201cPlus, you know, Paro is the odds-on favourite here. Everyone\u2019s coming to see him and stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went through that last time, so it takes a bit of ease off my mind as well. I\u2019m prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tim Tszyu says Liam Paro has already fought, and beat, tougher rivals than IBF welterweight champ Lewis Crocker…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-750167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750167","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=750167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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