Liam Paro was touted for his toughness and skill as he entered the ring Saturday night, but many cast doubt on whether he would be able to survive 12 rounds against a relentless wrecking ball like Subriel Matias. Well, the Aussie not only survived but also dominated the reigning IBF junior welterweight world champion en route to a stunning unanimous decision victory Saturday at Coliseo Juan Aubin Cruz Abreu in Manatí, Puerto Rico. The scores were 115-112, 115-112, and 116-111 for Paro, who claimed his first world championship in his first attempt.
Australia’s Paro got off to a fast start, which was concerning given the fate of Matias’ last two opponents. Jeremias Ponce and Shohjahon Ergashev were both unbeaten contenders and eager to show Matias they were not going to roll over for him. Unfortunately, they punched themselves out and eventually succumbed to Matias’ thunderous power. Paro followed a similar strategy mixed in with elite footwork, timing, and combinations. The skills paid the bills. Matias, a notoriously slow starter, barely threw a punch in the opening frame.
However, unlike prior Matias’ victims, this man was determined not to go down in history as another statistic. Paro continued to press forward in the second round. Matias set a series of traps and forced Paro to fight his fight, but the visiting Aussie was up for the challenge as they traded left and right hooks. Matias opened up in the third round. The pro-Matias crowd rose from their seats as their man drove Paro into the ropes with power punches to the head and the body, but Paro took them well.
Paro then settled into a rhythm and began to outwork, outbox, and outwit a stalking Matias (20-2, 20 KOs), who entered the fight with five straight knockout victories following a points defeat to Petros Ananyan in February 2020. Matias returned to his destructive ways in round six as he had Paro in trouble late in the frame from a vicious body attack. In the corner, Paro appeared to have some difficulty breathing and was sucking in air as the corner urged him to “Dig deep!”
Pabon decided to interject himself as he docked a point away from Paro in the seventh round for holding and hitting. However, Matias had committed the same violation in the exchange. Paro, however, was unbothered and outboxed his adversary for the rest of the rounds. Paro survived a surge from Matias in the eighth and ninth rounds. He withstood an intense assault of right hands, body shots, and uppercuts. Paro, though, responded with a series of lefts that got Matias’ attention.
A war ensued in the tenth, but Paro refused to give in to the supposed boogeyman. He landed a slew of left hands upstairs and took a flush right hand from Matias on the chin. But Paro hurt Matias in the final 15 seconds with a right uppercut that sealed the deal. Paro outworked and outgunned Matias, who everyone expected to explode in the final moments. But in reality, he was spent, extinguished, and a new world champion was about to be crowned in Puerto Rico. A man from a continent over 11,000 miles away was about to taste the championship wine.
The unbeaten Paro (25-0, 15 KOs) seized the moment. “We f*ckin’ did it. I’m a f*ckin’ man of my word,” Paro said to DAZN’s Chris Mannix. “To all the f*ckin’ people who said I couldn’t do it… It’s Paro Time!”
Co-Main Event
Yankiel Rivera scored a second-round knockdown en route to a 10-round unanimous decision win over Victor ‘Chucky’ Sandoval.
Undercard Action
Lightweights: Alfredo Santiago (15-2, 6 KOs) UD10 over Angel Fierro (22-2-2, 17 KOs).
Welterweights: Stephanie Pineiro (7-0, 2 KOs) UD10 over Diana Castro (7-2, 2 KOs).
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