Liam Paro to turn down world title eliminator and move up a division, eyes off big-money bouts

Liam Paro has sacrificed his chance at super-lightweight glory to pursue blockbuster fights, putting him on track to becoming Australia’s next boxing pay-per-view star.

Liam Paro will give up his IBF super-lightweight world title eliminator fight with Mexico’s Lindolfo Delgado and move up to welterweight.

After making the 140-pound (63.5kg) limit for 10 straight years, Code Sports understands the Queenslander is now struggling to make the weight class and will move up a division.

Paro is ranked fifth at super-lightweight with The Ring, and is in the top five with the WBO, IBF and WBC.

The move to 147 pounds (66.7kg) means he won’t join Kostya Tszyu in becoming a two-time super-lightweight world champion, but opens up the possibility of big-money bouts against the likes of Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero, Brian Norman Jr and Ryan Garcia.

Liam Paro destroyed Johnathan Navarro. Picture: No Limit Boxing

The other big names in the mix are WBC welterweight world champion Mario Barrios, who held onto his title with a draw against the great Manny Pacquiao in the headline fight of Tim Tszyu’s loss to Sebastian Fundora in Las Vegas.

Paro has even spoken about one day facing modern day great Pacquiao at some stage, telling Fox Sports, “I’d love that fight.

“Manny, he’s one of my favourite fighters. And to have his name on my resume would be something special.”

The move up to one of boxing’s glamour divisions is in line with turning ‘The Prodigy’ into Australia’s next PPV boxing star, alongside Tim and Nikita Tszyu.

A Cowboys diehard, there have even been preliminary talks of having Paro fight in Las Vegas on the same weekend that North Queensland play Newcastle in the 2026 season opener in Sin City.

Mario Barrios (L) and Manny Pacquiao (R) fought to a draw in their WBC welterweight world title fight in Las Vegas. Picture: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Paro most recently scored a thunderous fifth round stoppage win over Johnathan Navarro in his Australian homecoming in Cairns in June.

That bout was his first on home soil since his first round knockout of Brock Jarvis in Brisbane in 2022.

Since then, the 29-year-old knocked out the highly touted Montana Love before scoring one of the biggest boilovers of 2024 with a unanimous decision world title win over Subriel Matias.

He relinquished the IBF world title in a split decision defeat to slick American Richardson Hitchens in December before his Far North Queensland homecoming in June.

Paro had been linked to super-lightweight bouts with Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, Romero and Delgado, but his team is understood to see more of a future at welterweight.

Paro has been loosely pencilled in to fight again in September.

Originally published as Liam Paro to turn down world title eliminator and move up a division, eyes off big-money bouts