Liam Paro will make his first defense of his IBF light welterweight title against #1 rated Richardson Hitchins on December 7th 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 by a12 round unanimous decision on June 15th 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 fight to make. The 27-year-old Hitchins is coming off a controversial 12-round unanimous decision win over Gustavo Lemos in April in Las Vegas.
Fans on social disagreed with the results, believing that Lemos deserved a clear win. Indeed, people are ringisde booed the decision, feeling that the judges had given Lemos a bad deal.
Hearn signed Richardson to his company in September 2022, and he’s won four fights since joining his Matchroom stable. However, the last two against Jose Pedraza and Lemos have been boring ones, with Hitchins fighting defensively in a Shakur-esque style. Both fights were booed.
It’s unclear why Hearn signed Shakur Stevenson when he already had an exact copy of his style with Hitchins. That was a weird move by Hearn because he’s not a lot of hyping of Hitchins recently, which suggests to some that his enthusiasm has cooled toward this fighter.
Paro didn’t look entertaining either in his last fight against Subriel Matias. There was a moving, clinching, shoving, and potshots from Paro in winning that fight. It wasn’t must-watch TV entertainment, but Paro had to fight that way because when he stood and fought, he was getting worked over by the heavy-handed Matias.
“Liam Paro will defend his IBF junior welterweight title vs. Richardson Hitchins on Dec. 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,” said Mike Coppinger on X.
“Hitchins was in talks to fight Jose Pedraza, but Eddie Hearn instead finalized a matchup between two of his top 140-pounders.”
