Liam Paro adds his name to Australia’s best by “proving everyone wrong” vs Subriel Matias

Winning on the road is never easy.

That’s what made Liam Paro’s IBF junior welterweight title winning effort against Subriel Matias on the weekend all the more special.

Going up against one of the most dangerous punchers in boxing, Paro not only had to navigate his way past the heavy hands of Puerto Rican native Matias, he also had to contend with a referee seemingly determined to force him to lose his focus on the fight on Saturday night.

But it’s not just what happens in the ring that can make things difficult for a boxer far from home. Gone are many of the familiar faces usually seen at pre-fight events. The sights and smells are different. The food is different. Even small things, like the taste of the water or the songs of foreign birds, can subtly disrupt a boxer’s preparation.

Bookmakers had Paro listed as a +600 underdog going in to the fight and for good reason. In his eight-year pro career the 28-year-old Australian southpaw had never fought anyone remotely close to Matias’ ability, and certainly nobody with his vaunted power. The parochial Puerto Rican crowd, who turned up en masse to fill out the Coliseo Juan Aubin Cruz Abreu in Manati for what was the titleholder’s first fight in his homeland in almost five years, were intent on making the visitor as uncomfortable as possible.

The unfamiliar environment did little to rattle Paro. He soaked up the atmosphere as Matias, decked out in a yellow and grey trunks with matching yellow gloves, made his long walk to the ring.

Paro, dressed in a black and pink ensemble, blocked out the noise and boxed a superbly controlled fight. Matias, true to form, started slowly, while Paro kept his hands moving to rack up the points. The challenger showed variety in attack, pecking away at Matias’ head before slamming home hard shots to the body. He boxed long when he could, traded on the inside when he had to, and smothered when the going got tough.

Trainer Alfie Di Carlo was a calming influence in the corner, despite his colorful language. His tactical instructions to Paro were on point and he took the senseless intrusions of local referee Luis Pabon out of the equation, keeping his fighter firmly focused on the task at hand. When things got rocky in the sixth, it was Di Carlo who steadied the ship. And when Pabon docked Paro a point in the seventh for a phantom infringement, no one in the team unraveled.

It was classy stuff from the corner, with assistant trainer Justin Frost and cutman Stephen Edwards providing another two pairs of safe hands.

Consensus opinion going into the fight was that Matias, rated at No. 3 by The Ring at 140-pounds, would come on strong in the middle rounds. It was expected that he would bludgeon Paro to the point where he conceded defeat, just like he had his previous five opponents. But Paro proved to be made of sterner stuff. He weathered the storm, made subtle adjustments and came home with a wet sail, getting the better of the action in the championship rounds.

Paro made sure the crowd wasn’t a factor. He took referee Pabon out of the equation too, giving him no reason to penalize him further in the bout. And when the final bell rang, it was only the judges who could rob him of victory.

Thankfully, they didn’t.

The judges scored the bout 116-111 and 115-112 twice, meaning Paro lost no more than four rounds in their 12-round contest.

Paro was jubilant. Matias was dejected. After congratulating the new champ, the 32-year-old former titleholder quickly left the ring. He did not protest the result.

 Liam Paro (left) lands on Subriel Matias (right) during their fight at Coliseo Juan Aubín Cruz Abreu in Manati, Puerto Rico  – Photo by Amanda Westcott/Matchroom

It was a complete performance from Paro, heralding his arrival on the world stage.

“I’ve been through hell and back in life,” said Paro (25-0, 15 KOs) in the ring after the fight. “I keep proving everyone wrong. I just took the biggest test and came out on top.

“I knew it was going to be hard. Matias is a tremendous champion.

“That’s my hardest fight to date. He’s tough, man. He hits hard. He’s got 20 knockouts for a reason.

“I knew it was going to be hostile coming into the lion’s den. But I always said it was going to be a better chapter in the book when it’s all said and done.

“I proved that I’m at the top here. I just took out the boogeyman. I am the man now. I am the captain. Come and get it.”

One man who would like to come and get it is ex-champ Matias, who The Ring understands didn’t have a rematch clause in his contract.

“I don’t feel like I’m in any position to say what I want, but if [promoter] Eddie Hearn says, ‘You got to go to Australia and rematch Liam Paro’, I will knockout Liam Paro and do something I wasn’t able to do this evening,” said Matias (20-2, 20 KOs) at the post-fight press conference.

Boxing away from home is nothing new for Aussie fighters. Almost all world title challenges for antipodeans take place on foreign soil. Jimmy Carruthers travelled to South Africa to dethrone world bantamweight champion Vic Toweel in 1952 and claim The Ring championship. In 1968 Lionel Rose followed suit, lifting The Ring, WBC and WBA bantamweight championships from the great Fighting Harada in Japan. Johnny Famechon won The Ring and WBC featherweight championships from Jose Legra in England in 1969.

The trend continued over the years. Rocky Mattioli won the WBC junior middleweight title against Eckhard Dagge in Germany in 1977, Jeff Harding claimed the WBC light heavyweight title over Dennis Andries in America in 1989 and Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu had to head stateside for his first world title win against IBF junior welterweight boss Jake Rodriguez in 1995.

Flyweight Vic Darchinyan claimed both the scalp of Irene Pacheco and the IBF title in the US in 2004. Gairy St Clair defeated Malcolm Klassen for the IBF super featherweight belt in South Africa in 2006. Daniel Geale and Sam Soliman both went to Germany to win the IBF middleweight belt against Sebastian Silvester and Felix Sturm in 2011 and 2014, respectively.

Subriel Matias (right) covers up as Liam Paro (left) goes on the attack during their fight at Coliseo Juan Aubín Cruz Abreu in Manati, Puerto Rico  – Photo by Amanda Westcott/Matchroom

More recently, George Kambosos Jr surprised the boxing world with his win over Teofimo Lopez for The Ring lightweight championship and the IBF/WBA/WBO titles in America in 2021, the same country Jason Moloney would travel to two years later to become WBO bantamweight champion with a victory over Vincent Astrolabio.

Scattered amongst these wins are hard luck stories too, with names like Paul Ferreri, Hector Thompson, Tony Mundine, Troy Waters, Hussein Hussein, Nedal Hussein, Paul Briggs and Michael Katsidis populating a much longer list of world title challengers who came up short boxing in their opponent’s backyard.

Victories on the road simply aren’t easy to come by.

Australian fighters have long held a reputation of being “tough but limited” and in many cases, that perception has been well deserved. But as recent history has shown, boxers from this large but sparsely populated continent don’t just want to get to the big dance, they want to leave with the homecoming queen.

So where does Paro’s victory over Matias rank amongst the greatest away wins for an Aussie boxer?

That, gentle reader, is up to you to decide.