Junior welterweight Liam Paro isn’t the loudest fighter in the room, but according to Quinton Randall, he might be one of the most dangerous.
Randall has spent weeks as Paro’s chief sparring partner ahead of Saturday’s IBF junior welterweight title defense against Richardson Hitchins in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The fight will be broadcast on DAZN.
Randall, who initially expected to stay in camp for two weeks, ended up staying the duration, traveling with Paro’s team to Puerto Rico for fight week.
“I was surprised how strong he was,” Randall told BoxingScene, reflecting on his time in camp. “I didn’t know he had that type of power. He has an extremely fast workrate, he has been extremely disciplined this camp, and we built a great bond this camp.”
Paro, 28, boasts a perfect record of 25-0 record (15 KOs) and claimed the IBF title with a decisive win over Subriel Matias in June. The bout took place in Matias’ native Puerto Rico, where Paro now returns to defend his title against Hitchins, an undefeated 27-year-old New Yorker with a record of 18-0 (7 KOs). Randall believes Paro’s win is going unnoticed for how big of an achievement it was.
“I think he’s very underrated,” Randall said. “He was supposed to get way more credit for beating Subriel in his own backyard. That was a huge win. Nobody wanted to fight Subriel. He was considered the boogeyman of the division, and rightfully so, and Liam beat him convincingly.”
Randall continued that no one wanted to fight Matias, not even Hitchins.
“He [Hitchins] was making excuses that he doesn’t like the IBF rules,” Randall said. “Now all of a sudden, Liam got the title, he wants to fight for the IBF now, and he was saying before that he wasn’t going to fight for an IBF title.”
A victory over Hitchins would mark Paro’s third significant win in a row, following triumphs over Matias and Montana Love. For Randall, it’s clear Paro belongs at the top of the 140lbs division.
“If he beats Hitchins, that’s three good opponents back-to-back,” Randall said. “He’s staying more active than Teofimo [Lopez] and fighting better opposition than Teofimo, Devin Haney doesn’t have a belt and ‘Rayo’ [Jose Valenzuela].”
Read the full article here
