Already branded the nation\u2019s most avoided fighter, 22-year-old Peters has earned the biggest win of his young career after finishing tough New Zealander Marcus Heywood in just 85 seconds of Wednesday night\u2019s Fox Sports showcase.<\/p>\n
Fighting in the co-main, the fighter dubbed \u201950 Cal\u2019 twice dropped his rival with vicious body shots in the opening exchanges before referee Phil Austin waved it off.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re watching a superstar unfold,\u201d Paro said of the youngster, having watched on from his ringside commentary seat. \u201cHe\u2019s going to make waves on the world stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis kid is a freak. A superstar in the making.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Fox Sports analyst Peter Badel agreed, saying: \u201cThat was 85 seconds of savagery.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got all the tools \u2026 he can be a pay-per-view star here in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
#1 Contender? Masson v Parker Highlights | 06:01<\/p>\n
Already likened to the legendary Dave Sands, Peters has also been tipped by No Limit boss George Rose to win a world title within the next 12 months \u2013 or quicker than even Jeff Fenech. <\/p>\n
Exploding on Wednesday night as if fired out of a cannon, the fighter needed little more than a minute to finish a rival who had only been stopped once in 19 fights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew he had a tough head,\u201d Peters grinned afterwards. \u201cAnd you can\u2019t stop someone with a tough head.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo went to the body and put the pressure on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Incredibly, all this comes as the youngster also prepares to become the first Australian amateur to ever win gold at the IBA World Championships, which are being held in the UK this September.<\/p>\n
Despite his rapid rise in the professional ranks Peters also hasn\u2019t ruled out competing at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, and even the 2028 LA Olympics.<\/p>\n
However, given the way the Adelaide product is progressing, it is likely a world title push will almost certainly overtake those plans of attending a second Olympics.<\/p>\n
As revealed by Fox Sports Australia, Peters spent part of this build working in Las Vegas under the guidance of popular American head coach Bob Santos.<\/p>\n
Apart from being the reigning Ring Trainer of the Year, Santos also boasts time with a large crew of past and present champions including Mario Barrios, Erislandy Lara, Carlos Adames, Joel Casamayor, Robert Guerrero and David Morrell Jnr.<\/p>\n
Speaking in the ring afterwards, Heywood announced the loss likely represented his last fight.<\/p>\n
Nikita’s scary new opponent revealed | 05:39<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in the main event, Brisbane cruiserweight Floyd Masson took another step towards what he hopes will eventually be an all-Australian showdown with Jai Opetaia \u2013 finishing New Zealand\u2019s John Parker in seven rounds.<\/p>\n
The younger brother of Kiwi heavyweight star Joseph Parker \u2013 who was in attendance for the fight — John was dropped by a brutal Masson body shot in the seventh and, despite beating the count, found himself under attack again soon after when his team threw in the towel.<\/p>\n
While Masson stressed afterwards there was plenty he could have done better, the finish earned him the IBF Pan Pacific title and, likely, a spot inside the top 10.<\/p>\n
The former IBO champ stopped short of calling out Opetaia, who holds both the IBF and Ring cruiserweight titles, and said he would be happy to take whoever his team puts in front of him.<\/p>\n
Opetaia\u2019s own immediate fight future is under a cloud given the man he most wants to face, WBA and WBO champ Gilberto \u2018Zurdo\u2019 Ramirez, has only recently undergone shoulder surgery.<\/p>\n
No return date has been announced.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere on Wednesday night\u2019s card, Paro\u2019s sparring partner Ken Aitken \u2013 aka The Baby Faced Assasin \u2013 needed less than a round to finish Hunter Ioane, while Matthew Hosking stopped Jayden Vasica late in what had proved an entertaining, five-round slugfest.<\/p>\n
Calvin Jennings, meanwhile, opened the night with an impressive majority decision win over Jacob Clenshaw, while Brisbane light heavyweight Jack Gregory also took a majority decision against Jahzia Puohotaua.<\/p>\n
Zerafa: Nikita is better than Tim | 03:46<\/p>\n
Earlier in the night, Paro revealed he is moving up in weight and immediately called out one of the welterweight division\u2019s modern greats \u2013 branding Thurman a \u201cchihuahua\u201d.<\/p>\n
Despite having previously held the IBF super lightweight title, and being in contention for another crack, the Queenslander also offered the legendary Pacquiao back Down Under to avenge his 2017 loss against Jeff Horn.<\/p>\n
The surprise switch means Paro will give up his impending IBF world title eliminator against Mexico\u2019s Lindolfo Delgado.<\/p>\n
Instead, he will instead switch focus to chase lucrative bouts against the likes of Ryan Garcia, \u2018Rolly\u2019 Romero, Mario Barrios, even the legendary Pacquiao.<\/p>\n
Speaking shortly before jumping into the commentary booth, Paro also challenged Thurman to an Australian showdown later this year, accusing the former world champ of being \u201call bark, no bite\u201d.<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old also reminded \u2018One Time\u2019 that he had also thrown down against the American\u2019s most recent rival Brock Jarvis \u2013 and needed only one round for the finish, not three.<\/p>\n
The callout follows Thurman recently tossing up Paro\u2019s name after a proposed Tim Tszyu fight disappeared, following The Soul Taker\u2019s title loss against WBC champ Sebastian Fundora.<\/p>\n
Yet when asked about the American\u2019s challenge, Paro said: \u201cKeith Thurman, he doesn\u2019t want it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t really want it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows he\u2019ll lose to Liam Paro.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe called me out, it was out of nowhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a 140 pounder and this guy is fighting at 154<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know me I\u2019m willing to fight anyone and will go up to 150 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe told (No Limit) and they approached Keith Thurman but apparently he doesn\u2019t want it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how chihuahuas act, all bark no bite.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re willing to go up to 10 pounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never fought that heavy.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s how much I believe in my skill and what a scalp to take \u2013 Keith Thurman.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Keith if you\u2019re listening you can get it anytime.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome to Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI respect you, but I took Brock out in one round, it took you three \u2026 let\u2019s just leave that there.\u201d<\/p>\n
And as for a potential Pacman showdown?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe legend, my favourite fighter Manny Pacquiao is back in boxing,\u201d he grinned.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack at welterweight.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, get me in there.<\/p>\n
\u201cBring him to Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure he wants to try and get one back on Suncorp (Stadium).<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d be willing to offer that fight, very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s Liam Paro has unveiled his shock plan to challenge both Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-34345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34345","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=34345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}