While it has now been a week since Paro-Donovan was publicly confirmed for the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on January 17, the Aussie says his rival is still to ink his signature onto the official paperwork.<\/p>\n
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia, Paro accused the fighting Irishman \u2013 who is promoted by Eddie Hearn\u2019s famed Matchroom stable — of having \u201csecond thoughts\u201d for what is supposed to be the co-main event of a massive No Limit card being topped by Nikita Tszyu and Michael Zerafa. <\/p>\n
The Queenslander also accused Donovan of talking \u201ca load of s***\u201d to media and suggested the 26-year-old could still go \u201crunning with his tail between his legs\u201d.<\/p>\n
The revelation comes as Paro also doubled down on his own push to chase the biggest names in the welterweight division, including the winner of this Sunday\u2019s Ring IV blockbuster between Devin Haney and Brian Norman Jnr in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
While Haney is the slight betting favourite, Paro is backing Norman Jnr to retain his WBO welterweight crown \u2013 and potentially via KO.<\/p>\n
But before all that, Paro is urging Donovan to sign off on a contract that has been in the Limerick native\u2019s possession \u201cfor weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n
It comes as the Irishman has also told UK media about how he is looking forward to beating Paro and going straight into a trilogy with IBF welterweight champ Lewis Crocker \u2013 who he has lost against in his two most recent outings.<\/p>\n
Asked initially about those claims on Friday, Paro responded: \u201cIt\u2019s funny Donovan says that. Because if he really is so confident of getting through me, why hasn\u2019t he signed the contract already?\u201d<\/p>\n
He still hasn\u2019t signed off on the fight yet?<\/p>\n
“He wants to be World Champion again” | 03:50<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, he hasn\u2019t,\u201d Paro said. \u201cAnd I know he\u2019s had the paperwork for weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what\u2019s so hard about signing a piece of paper? Especially if I\u2019m just a stepping stone?<\/p>\n
\u201cThis bloke calls himself a fighter but doesn\u2019t want to sign the contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually become quite annoying, and I just hope he finds a set and signs.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I\u2019ve seen in his interviews how he thinks he\u2019s going to be the stronger puncher, the bigger guy … but that\u2019s all just a load of s***.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he really is so confident, why hasn\u2019t he signed the contract? I\u2019m starting to think he is running with his tail between his legs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Announcing the Paro-Donovan bout at a press conference last week, No Limit CEO George Rose said: \u201cThere has been an agreement reached on that fight. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it hasn\u2019t been officially signed off, everything has been agreed on. A man\u2019s handshake is pretty much as good as a contract. So that\u2019s where we\u2019re at right now. It is agreed. It\u2019s going ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet a week on, and with Donovan still having not committed in writing, Paro fears his rival is having second thoughts.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Paddy knows this is a tougher fight than his past two against Crocker,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd that\u2019s now starting to play into his head, the idea that he\u2019ll be staring down three straight losses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s why he\u2019s having second thoughts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen him in interviews talking a big game \u2013 saying how he will be more powerful, the bigger puncher, how he will bully me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if he did really believe that, he would\u2019ve signed already.<\/p>\n
\u201cI signed my paperwork immediately, within seconds of receiving it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Matchroom can play a few games but he\u2019s the man, he\u2019s the fighter, he is the one signing his name on the dotted line.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he doesn\u2019t want to.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat proves to me he is having second thoughts \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim Tszyu ‘Rejuvenated & Refreshed’ | 01:35<\/p>\n
Pushed on the fact Donovan has already done a handful of interviews about the showdown, Paro continued: \u201cA lot of people call themselves fighters but, when it comes to the crunch, they don\u2019t do what is required.<\/p>\n
\u201cPaddy knows what will be standing in front of him when we fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he knows I\u2019m his toughest test yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve rained on parades before; just ask Subriel Matias.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the fact he is yet to sign, it just proves he doesn\u2019t believe what he\u2019s saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll his talk, it\u2019s for the cameras.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about him fluffing himself up to be something he\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paro also hit back at Donovan\u2019s claims in a recent interview that he would be the bigger puncher against Paro, who is now campaigning to become a two-division champ after winning, and then losing, the IBF super lightweight title.<\/p>\n
\u201cDonovan\u2019s just trying to make himself feel better about what\u2019s coming,\u201d Paro continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only two times he has fought an undefeated fighter, he\u2019s lost.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat says something.<\/p>\n
\u201cSame as when you look at the caliber of guys he\u2019s been knocking out, no disrespect, but it\u2019s easier to knock out B level fighters, C level fighters, than world class opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look at my resume though, I\u2019ve stopped a lot of world class opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo again, I don\u2019t really know what he\u2019s going on about.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s just trying to build some confidence in himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Paro is tipping Norman Jnr to defend his WBO welterweight crown against Haney on this Sunday\u2019s hyped Ring IV event that will be shown live on Main Event, Kayo Sports and DAZN.<\/p>\n
While Norman Jnr is a slight betting underdog, the Aussie suggested he would win the \u201c50\/50 fight\u201d so long as he starts strong early.<\/p>\n
Tim Tszyu begins redemption journey | 05:03<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, I\u2019ll edge towards Brian Norman Jnr getting it done,\u201d Paro said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Norman is a big, power puncher and I do believe he can clip Haney.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s how he has to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this one goes to decision it will be Haney, especially if he gets into his groove, uses his jab.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut for Brian to win, he needs to worry Haney early and hurt him.<\/p>\n
\u201cStamp his authority early in the fight like Ryan Garcia did, put him in his shell.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen Haney get dropped and I do think Norman can stop him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut again, it needs to be early.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really think Norman is going to come flying out of the gates, try to surprise him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s going to be a good fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, Paro could himself be eventually throwing down with the winner should he continue on his path to claiming Crocker\u2019s IBF welterweight strap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is definitely what I want,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd until I become champion, I believe Brian Norman Jnr is the guy at 147.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the main event, meanwhile, Paro is tipping David Benavidez to beat Anthony Yarde for the WBC light heavyweight crown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Benavidez, he\u2019s one of my favourite fighters to watch,\u201d Paro said. \u201cI know he\u2019s usually a lot bigger and now, at light heavyweight, he\u2019s around guys the same size but I do think he should get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s Liam Paro has sensationally accused Paddy Donovan of running \u2013 and urged him to \u201cfind a set\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-296940","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}