Liam Paro produced the performance of his life to dethrone Sabriel Mathias on home soil and claim the IBF super lightweight world title in one of the biggest boxing battles of all time.
Palo, a $5.50 underdog before the bout, defeated the Puerto Rican by unanimous decision (115-112 x 2, 116-111) in front of a rapturous crowd at Coliseo Juan Alvin Cruz Abreu in Manati.
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However, the fight was not without controversy, with referee Luis Pavon being unusually vigorous in chastising Paro throughout the bout and his point deduction in the seventh round being described as “horrible”. DAZN Commentator Chris Mannix.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn described Paro's performance as an “absolute masterclass” in boxing and praised the Australian for having the courage to take on a super-lightweight baddie.
“We said he (Palo) had to earn his (Matthias') respect and he did,” Hearn said in a post-fight interview.
“He pushed his man back and boxed off on the back foot. It was a masterclass. I was keeping my man so wide.”
“With three or four rounds to go, Matthias needed a knockout. It wasn't even close and it was a great performance from Liam Paro.”
“And to come to Puerto Rico, the homeland of the man nobody wanted to face, is a huge win for Liam Paro and a huge win for Australian boxing.”
It was Paro's 25th career win and kept his unbeaten record intact, while Mathias suffered his first loss in five fights.
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Matias' game tactics were on full display even before a punch was thrown, as he slowly made his way into the ring, flanked by Puerto Rican rappers Yovuntimi and Nengo Flow.
But Palo had no intention of succumbing to the champion and started brightly, tapping out Mathias after he threw few punches in the early rounds.
However, Pavón quickly exerted his influence over the bout, aggressively warning Palo to stop leading with his head during the second and third rounds.
Matias stepped up the offensive in the second half of the third round, determined to apply more pressure, but he did little to trouble Palo, who used clever movement to create angles and avoid the Puerto Rican's biggest blows.
Palo had a bit of trouble in the middle rounds, necessitating a ferocious counterattack from his corner as Mathias gained the advantage, but Pavon still wasn't done stealing the show.
In the seventh round, Pavon decided to deduct a point from Palo after he felt that Matias had landed too many illegal blows to the back of the head.
The decision to penalize Paro infuriated Mannix.
“What are we doing? There's no way to justify the deduction,” Mannix said.
“Luis Pavon has hated Liam Paro since the first round. That's awful.”
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Despite the home-field advantage, Palo refused to back down and regained momentum in the later rounds, bloodying Mathias late in the seventh round.
The bout went all the way to the deciding round, where, despite being in poor health, the Australian boxed smartly and Mathias had no answers for him.
Paro had beaten his rival by a considerable margin but, given that the bout took place in Matthias' home town, many Australian boxing fans feared the worst regarding the scorecards.
But there was no disputing the scorecards as the Mackay native recorded his biggest win to date.
Hearn said Paro could potentially make his first title defence in front of enthusiastic Australian fans.
“It's time to bring him back to Australia,” Hearn said.
“He's been on the road for a long time and has had to fight a lot of battles.
“I would love to see him defend his championship in Australia.”
