Liam Paro is prepared to do a number on Montana Love in their ten round light welterweight fight this Saturday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Paro feels that Love is mentally fragile and folds under pressure. In Montana’s last fight thirteen months ago, he threw his opponent Steve Spark out of the ring in the sixth round and was subsequently disqualified in their bout in November 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Spark was giving Love problems with his heavy shots and nonstop pressure, causing him to come unglued to the point where he shoved the Aussie out of the ring in the sixth.
It’s unclear why Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn didn’t set up a rematch between the two, as that would have been a logical move. Did Love not want a second helping of Spark after his bad experience?
The hard-hitting Paro (23-0, 14 KOs), who is widely rumored to have knocked out lightweight phenom Shakur Stevenson recently in sparring, is battling Love (18-1-1, 9 KOs) on the Devin Haney vs. Regis Prograis card on DAZN PPV.
With a win on Saturday night, the 27-year-old Paro is hoping to fight the winner of the Haney-Prograis fight in early 2024. That would seem very unlikely to happen, considering both fighters are interested in the big-money fights. Haney said yesterday that he wants Gervonta Davis if he wins.
Prograis would be happy to fight Teofimo Lopez or Ryan Garcia if he comes out victorious, which isn’t expected to happen.
Liam Paro to showcase skills
“He’s a good boxer, you can’t deny that. He’s pretty crafty. I’ve seen in previous fights he doesn’t like pressure. As soon as he gets a little pressure, he folds up the camp chair, and we’re going to bring that pressure and bring that heat to him,” said Liam Paro to iFL TV about his fight this Saturday night against Montana Love in San Francisco.
We’ll see how Love handles the early pressure from Paro and whether he’ll resort to roughhouse tactics like he did against Spark. Before Love’s loss to Spark, Hearn had been high on him, talking about his talent, and seeing him as a future world champion.
Since then, Hearn has gone quiet, saying nothing about Love, making it clear that he’s on the outs with the British promoter. Unless Love turns things around on Saturday night, it’s reasonable to assume that his contract with Matchroom won’t be renewed when it expires.
“This is what dreams are made of. It’s a sold-out event already. There will be millions around the world watching,” said Paro about this Saturday’s Devin Haney vs. Regis Prograis event on DAZN PPV at the Chase Center.
“It’s going to be a perfect platform to showcase my skills and the perfect place to dominate back on the scene after a 14-month layoff.”
There are going to be many boxing fans that will order the $75 event on DAZN PPV this Saturday night, so it’s crucial that Paro look good with another knockout victory like his previous bout against Brock Jarvis in October 2022.
Paro stopped Jarvis in the first round of that fight. A knockout like that of Love would be the ideal showcase victory for Paro to get fans excited about his future.
“It’s going to be a whole different fight than Steve [Spark]. I’m levels above him and believe that too,” said Paro when asked about his thoughts on Montana Love’s recent disqualification loss to Steve Spark.
Taking advantage of Montana Love’s weakness
“The only thing I took from that is it’s easy to get in his [Montana] head,” Paro continued. “He’s a little bit weak-minded, so we’re going to play on that and really test it for sure. I’m not big on predictions, but I just know that I’m going to have my hand raised by the end.”
Paro noted how Montana crumbled under the pressure from Spark, and lost it completely in the sixth round, using a WWE move in throwing him over the top rope. It was so blatant that the referee had no choice but to disqualify Love.
“In an ideal world, I want the winner of the main event. I was meant to square off with Regis [Prograis] in the middle of the year. God had different plans, but I want the winner.”
The ambitious Liam Paro will need to keep winning and likely focus on becoming mandatory before he can fight for one of the belts at 140. An ideal match-up for Paro would be against one of these top contenders for his next fight:
- Arnold Barboza Jr.
- Gary Antuanne Russell
- Sandor Martin
- Richardson Hitchins
- Ryan Garcia
- Shohjahon Ergashev
“I want to be in the opposite corner of a world title in early 2024. I want to have a massive year. I want my own title contentions and become world champion myself,” said Paro.
