Liam Robert Paro (born 16 April 1996) is an Australian

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who held the

International Boxing Federation The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts. The others are the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing C ...

(IBF)

light-welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title in 2024.

Early life

Paro was born and raised in

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensland ...

to a family of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

descent. His first sporting interest came in the form of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

where he played for the North Mackay Magpies in the local junior competition. At 13 years of age, he was introduced to the sport of

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

and gave up playing rugby league to focus solely on pursuing a professional career in boxing. In pursuit of higher levels of training, Paro moved to

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

at 17 years of age before settling in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

as a 20-year-old, where he would regularly train with the likes of future world champion Jeff Horn in the lead up to his monumental victory over legendary Filipino boxer

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. ( ; ; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician, businessman, and professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously serv ...

Professional boxing career

Paro vs. Álamo

In his international debut, Paro travelled to

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

where he was victorious over undefeated Puerto Rican Yomar Álamo via

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split de ...

on the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley II undercard.

IBF Super Lightweight Champion

Paro vs. Matias

On February 4, 2024 it was reported that Liam Paro would challenge Subriel Matias for his IBF super lightweight title in the summer 2024 in Puerto Rico. On March 27, 2024 the fight was confirmed for June 15, 2024 in Manatí, Puerto Rico. Paro won the fight by unanimous decision.

Paro vs. Hitchins

On August 27, 2024 it was announced that Paro was expected to make the first defense of his IBF super lightweight title on 7 December 2024, at a venue in Brisbane, Sydney or Adelaide.

Devin Haney Devin Miles Haney ( ; born November 17, 1998) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed championship at lightweight from 2022 to 2023, and the World Boxing Counci ...

was a potential opponent. On 3 October 2024, it was announced that Paro would face

Richardson Hitchins Richardson Hitchins (born September 26, 1997) is an American professional boxer, who has held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) light welterweight title since December 2024. Amateur career As an Amateur boxing, amateur he represented Hai ...

in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He lost the fight and his title by split decision with two ringside judges scoring the bout 116-112 for Hitchins while the third had it 117-111 for Paro.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Liam Paro - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Paro, Liam 1996 births Living people Australian male boxers Sportspeople from Mackay, Queensland Sportsmen from Queensland Southpaw boxers World light-welterweight boxing champions International Boxing Federation champions 21st-century Australian sportsmen