Richardson Hitchins isn’t giving IBF welterweight champion Liam Paro any credit for his bravery in agreeing to fight him next for their December 7 bout because it’s his mandate, and he didn’t want to do not pay a step aside. It was either fight or lose the IBF belt. There was no courage involved.
Hitchins: Paro had no choice
Hitchins (18-0, 7 KOs) says it was similar to how Paro (25-0, 15 KOs) fought the boogeyman at 140, Subriel Matias, last summer on June 15 in Manati, Puerto Rico. He claims that the 28-year-old Paro had already withdrawn from a fight against former WBC 140-lb champion Regis Prograis in the past due to an injury. He had a record built, and he was 28 years old.
It was either agreed to the offer to fight Matias or to be removed from Matchroom because they had given him two opportunities to fight for the world titles. So, Paro took the fight with Matias, did a lot of holding and roughhouse tactics, and won the fight by a 12-round decision. Hitchins says Paro held back a lot and threw rabbit punches during the Matias fight.
Paro will defend against #1 IBF mandatory Hitchins on December 7th in the main event, live on DAZN from Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The highly qualified Hitchins, an amped-up version of Shakur Stevenson, but with more power and aggressiveness, he plans to school the lefty Paro. He has to neutralize the bag of tricks that Paro uses, removing his excessive clinching to give a lesson in boxing.
“When you have built your career in Australia, and you have signed with Eddie Hearn, and he gives you not one but two opportunities to fight for a world title. The first opportunity, he goes out with an injury to Regis Prograis,” said Richardson Hitchins to Cigar Talk about Liam Paro is given advantages to fight for world titles since signing with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom.
“Now, they’re (Matchroom) like, ‘We’re going to give you another opportunity.’ If you say, No, I’ll cut you. Your boss will cut you off. You are 28 years old; your record is already built. You have to say, “Yes.” There is no choice,” Hitchins said, which is why Paro fights former IBF 140-lb champion Subriel Matias on June 15 in Manati, Puerto Rico.
“The same thing when Liam Paro said: ‘I took my mandate. You were my mandate. We’ll show you that I’m a fighter.” Don’t show me you’re a fighter. You had to fight me. I am your obligation. You’re trying to get a Devin Haney fight. That didn’t work. You tried to do something with George Cambosos. It didn’t work,” Hitchins said.
Paro Cornered with No Escape
It seems that Paro was at the end of his rope with Matchroom and literally had no choice but to take the fight with the dangerous puncher Subriel Matias on June 15th. Would Hearn have released Paro if he refused to accept the fight? It would not be surprising because he could not squeeze him, subsidizing his career by combining him with tomato cans, infinitum.
HIitchins is a whole different ball game for Paro compared to the guys he’s faced during his eight-year career right now, and he’s going to have to come up with a different set of tools to try and win this fight. Holding and roughhouse tactics won’t get the job done against a highly skilled fighter like Hitchins because he’s seen all of these things before.
“The only choice that Eddie gave him was that he had to fight me, or he had to pay me set aside money. He was not trying to do that. People talk and talk, but he (Paro) going in Puerto Rico (to fight Matias) it meant nothing. You have to fight,” Hitchins said of Paro.
