Paro Delighted To Dodge ‘Dodgy’ Judging After Securing Aussie Advantage For Crocker Title Clash
Liam Paro says he is delighted he’ll dodge ‘dodgy’ UK judging after securing home advantage for his shot at Lewis Crocker’s IBF welterweight world title.
The Australians’ No Limit team won purse bids for the sanctioned world title bout, meaning the Champion will travel Down Under to make a first defence of his strap.
The former light welterweight world champ is relishing the chance to enjoy home comforts and believes having the fight in Australia will help him become a household name in his native land.
The Brian Peters-mentored boxer also expressed happiness at not having to worry about what he thinks can be unpredictable British fight scoring.
Matchroom and Jamie Conlan, Crocker’s manager, had the SSE Arena lined up for the fight if they had succeeded in the purse battle – and the challenger is happy he isn’t Belfast-bound.
“I was confident I could win – I’ve travelled before and done it. But to have it on Australian ground is way better – I want to be a household name here – and touching on the judging over in the UK, it’s pretty dodgy. We’ve seen shows recently where even the commentary doesn’t even know – if even the commentary’s not on the same page, that’s not good,” he told Boxingscene.
“But with the IBF I was confident all I needed was a fair shake and I’m confident I can get it done, but of course I’m a lot happier. I’m a lot more excited and a lot more motivated to have it here.”
Crocker could argue he may not get a fair crack of the whip when he put his title on the line in Australia. However, Paro says Crocker shouldn’t ave travel concerns.
“It’s international judges – we don’t have Aussie judges here,” he adds.
“They’re picked from all around the world, so the IBF are good at picking judges. We’ve both got a fair shake – the best man’s gonna win on the night. Whoever comes up and shows up and executes their game plan to the best is gonna win.”
Paro has reason’s outside of his judging fears for being elated with the chance to win another world title on home soil.
“Words can’t describe how excited I am. I’ve been saying since before I was with No Limit how much I want to bring big titles to Australia; how much I want to win titles in front of the Aussie people. We’re diehard fight fans and diehard sports fans. We always have to travel to take those big opportunities but now it’s here. It’s right in front of me.
“There’s only one job left and that’s for me to perform on fight night and win that strap and join the likes of Jeff Fenech in being the only Aussie-born multi-division world champion. To sit at the same table as him, I’m gonna make it a reality. I’m very confident I can do so. I’ve got a hard task ahead of me – a credible opponent in Lewis Crocker – but I’m ready to go down in Australian sport as one of the greats.”
