Liam Paro Returns with a Flourish on Wednesday’s ‘No Limit’ Card in Queensland

Australia’s Rose brothers – former rugby star turned boxing promoter George Rose and his brothers Trent and Matt – are credited with revitalizing boxing in the Land Down Under after the sport had fallen into the doldrums. The brothers, who operate under the banner of No Limit Boxing, were back on the scene today in the Northern Queensland city of Cairns with a show featuring former IBF super lightweight champion Liam Paro in the main go and former world title challenger Liam Wilson in the chief supporting bout.

Paro, a 29-year-old Queenslander, was fighting on his home turf for the first time since October of 2022 when he knocked out Brock Jarvis in the opening round and was making his first start since losing his title to Richardson Hitchins who prevailed on a unanimous decision in Paro’s first title defense. He was matched against East LA native Jonathan Navarro in a bout contested at the catch-weight of 144 pounds.

Navarro, 18-1 heading in, comes from a fighting family; his uncle Jose Navarro was a three-time world title challenger. Coming out of the amateurs, Jonathan, formerly with Golden Boy, was highly touted. But he lost five years of his career because of complications from a biceps injury and he too was coming off a loss, a setback on points to Mexico’s Jair Valterria in Ireland.

It was an uphill battle for Navarro after he was left with a bad gash on his forehead in the opening round, the result of an apparent clash of heads although the referee disagreed.

Starting in the next frame, the Aussie methodically broke him down. Late in round five, Navarro was hurt and dropped by a sweeping left hand. He barely survived the round and returned to his corner with a bloody nose and potentially a broken orbital bone. At this juncture, his corner wisely pulled him out.

With the TKO, Liam Paro improved his ledger to 26-1 (16 KOs).

Co-Feature

Super featherweight Liam Wilson, akin to Paro a 29-year-old Queenslander, improved to 16-3 (8) with a unanimous 10-round decision over Argentine import Ayrton Gimenez (22-2). The scores were 98-92, 97-93, and 96-94. A slick counter-puncher with only four stoppages to his credit, Gimenez fought in his preferred style, which is to say off his back foot, and Wilson, in his third fight back after getting stopped in five rounds by Oscar Valdez, won over the judges with his aggression.

No Limit, Liam Wilson’s promoter, hopes to lure WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete to Australia for a rematch of their 2023 encounter. That contest in Phoenix was a see-saw skirmish that ended with Navarette prevailing on a controversial ninth-round stoppage.

However, Navarrete has unfinished business with Charly Suarez. The WBO mandated a rematch after the California commission changed the result of their bout last month in San Diego from a technical win for the Mexican to a no-decision. The commission ruled that the referee erred when he attributed the gruesome cut over the champion’s left eye to a head butt. The replay indicated otherwise; a legitimate punch.

Also

In an undercard fight of note, super middleweight Callum Peters (3-0, 3 KOs) blew away Luca Lanigan in the first round. It was the pro boxing debut for the overmatched Lanigan who has an MMA background and took the fight on two days notice.

Peters has been a busy fellow since losing a razor-thin decision to his Kazakh opponent at the Paris Olympics. Since then, he has had 14 more amateur fights, winning them all, plus his three professional fights. He presumably has his eyes set on the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

FYI: Liam’s Paro’s deal with “No Limit” was a one-fight deal but the Rose brothers have plenty on their plate. They also promote the Tszyu brothers, Tim and Nikita, Sam Goodman, and colorful Harry Garside. Tim Tszyu returns to the ring on July 19 in Las Vegas. He is a 7/5 favorite to avenge his setback to Sebastian Fundora. The following month, Goodman challenges WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball in Riyadh.

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