Liam Paro will make his first defense of his IBF light welterweight title against No. 1 Richardson Hitchins on December 7 in Puerto Rico. The fight is in neutral territory for both guys.
For Matchroom to stage the Paro vs. Hitchins fight in Puerto Rico, it suggests that former IBF 140-lb champion Subriel Matias could be on the undercard. The Aussie, Paro 25-0, 15 KOs) defeated Matias by a 12-round unanimous decision on June 15 in Manati, Puerto Rico.
Hitchins (18-0, 7 KOs) and Paro are both promoted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom company. So, this is a natural struggle to do. Hitchins, 27, is coming off a controversial 12-round unanimous decision win over Gustavo Lemos in April in Las Vegas.
Fans on social media did not agree with the results, believing that Lemos deserved a clear victory. Indeed, people are ringisde booed at the decision, feeling that the judges gave Lemos a bad deal.
Hearn signed Richardson to his company in September 2022, and he has won four fights since joining his Matchroom stable. However, the last two against Jose Pedraza and Lemos have been boring, with Hitchins fighting defensively in a Shakur-esque style. Both fights were whistled.
It is unclear why Hearn signed Shakur Stevenson when he already had an exact copy of his style with Hitchins. It was a strange move by Hearn because he hasn’t been hyping Hitchins much recently, which suggests to some that his enthusiasm has cooled towards this fight.
Paro didn’t look funny either in his last fight against Subriel Matias. There was movement, clinching, shoving, and pothots from Paro in winning that fight. It wasn’t a TV entertainment show, but Paro had to fight like that because when he stood up and fought, he was blown away by Matias.
“Liam Paro defends his IBF junior welterweight title against Richardson Hitchins on December 7 in Puerto Rico. Paro returns to PR, where he won the title in June with a major upset win over Subriel Matias. Neutral ground for both boxers Mike Coppinger said X.
“Hitchins was in talks to fight Jose Pedraza, but Eddie Hearn instead finalized a matchup between two of his top 140 pounders.”
