Former super-lightweight champion called out by welterweight contender.
Liam Paro (27-1, 16 KOs) was, for a short while, the IBF super-lightweight champion of the world. He earned this distinction by beating Subriel Matías, and in Puerto Rico, no less.
At that point, Matías was 20-1 with 20 knockouts. He was considered one of the most feared fighters in all of boxing, and he had made five consecutive opponents retire on their stools.
Paro’s best win at the time was over Montana Love, an American who had previously lost to another Australian in Steve Spark. Simply put, there wasn’t anything suggesting Paro could pull off the upset over Matías.
Yet he did, and he became world champion on away soil in the process. Almost six months later, he was back in Puerto Rico, losing his title and his undefeated record to the slick Richardson Hitchins.
This called for a move up in weight, and Paro climbed up to welterweight to stop Jonathan Navarro in his very next fight. This was followed by a far tougher fight than was expected against a 30-0-1 Frenchman by the name of David Papot.
In that fight, despite winning, Paro came away with a badly swollen right eye. It was an injury that many thought necessitated some time off.
But since then, Paro has had a planned fight with Paddy Donovan fall through and been ordered to fight IBF champion (and two-time Donovan conqueror) Lewis Crocker.
This fight was expected to take place on a card in April, but will now have to be for a later date due to Crocker suffering an injury.
Following these developments, Paro has been called out by a fighter who wishes to take Crocker’s place and has even offered to travel to Australia to do it.
This fighter is Conah Walker (17-3-1, 8 KOs), Britain’s fiery welterweight contender who makes any contest a terrific watch.
Walker is on a fantastic run in his career, but recently had potential opponent Ekow Essuman pull out of negotiations. As a result, he is now searching for a new one, and maybe Paro is just the man.
Additionally, Sam Jones (Walker’s manager) wrote on his Twitter account that he is happy to make the fight, leaving only Paro’s stance on the matter in question.
Should the fight be made, boxing fans can expect a fascinating clash of styles, with title honours surely awaiting the winner.
Happy to do this fight ✅ https://t.co/yhAc3h0svi
— Sam Jones (@mrsamjones88) February 24, 2026
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