Former world champion Liam Paro has made a statement in his homecoming bout in North Queensland, stopping Jonathan Navarro in dominating fashion.
In his first fight since losing his IBF super lightweight title to Richardson Hitchins in December, Paro showed he’s still got the quality to make another run at the world championship.
In action in Australia for the first time in three years, the slick southpaw moved through the gears smoothly before bringing the heat in the fifth round and ultimately forcing a corner retirement.
“North Queensland, I’m back,” Paro said after the win.
“It feels good to be home. I think I just made my statement. I want to get back to the top position.
“I want another belt. I keep saying, ‘two-time has a ring to it.’ I want to get a belt, I want to avenge my loss.”
Navarro was cut on the hairline in the opening round, with referee Chris Condon ruling the damage was caused by a punch despite the American and his team arguing it had come from a head butt, which replays appeared to support.
The visitor’s corner worked well to stop the bleeding for the most part but they couldn’t do much about their man eating shots on the way in as Paro popped off check right hooks and straight lefts, including a hard one in the dying stages of third round.
By the end of the fourth, the Mackay product was in complete control and Navarro was looking out of ideas, unable to find a home for the right hand he had been waiting on.
Then, a round later, the Cairns crowd was on its feet as Navarro went down courtesy of a wide left hand which slipped through the guard.
Paro jumped on his man after the restart and landed more thudding blows before the bell, with the fight waved off ahead of the beginning of the sixth as Navarro’s corner assessed a nasty cut on their fighter’s nose.
In the chief support, Liam Wilson overcame a tricky Argentinian opponent in Ayrton Gimenez to ensure he remains in the frame for world title opportunities.
The hard-hitting Aussie struggled to nail Gimenez down and land his trademark power with any regularity but scored often enough to get the nod on all three judges’ cards (98-92, 97-93, 96-94).
Earlier, Callum Peters made it three first-round knockout victories from three to start his professional career with a clean-up job on Luca Lanigan, dropping his opponent three times on the way to the win, while fellow hyped Aussie prospect Kirra Ruston recorded another KO victory, this time against the previously undefeated Kartik Kumar.
Liam Paro vs. Jonathan Navarro full card results
- Liam Paro def. Jonathan Navarro via TKO5
- Liam Wilson def. Ayrton Gimenez via UD10 (98-92, 97-93, 96-94)
- Callum Peters def. Luca Lanigan via TKO1
- Kirra Ruston def. Kartik Kumar via TKO2
- Vegas Larfield def. Bryan Cabrillos via UD6 (58-55, 58-56, 59-55)