Australia’s Liam Paro looks set to be joined on his blockbuster world title card by either Tim or Nikita Tszyu – and as part of a bold No Limit push to dethrone two of Eddie Hearn’s UK world champions this year.
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia on Thursday, No Limit CEO George Rose has opened up on the 4am zoom call on Wednesday that saw his team secure Paro’s world title fight against reigning IBF welterweight champ Lewis Crocker.
Apart from getting one up on heavyweight UK promoter Hearn, Rose also revealed the successful seven-figure bid represents “the biggest purse win by any Australian promoter ever”.
Barrios vs Garcia | Sunday 22 Feb from 12pm AEDT | Ryan Garcia will attempt to win his first major world title when he challenges WBC welterweight titleholder Mario Barrios in Las Vegas. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
The promoter also unveiled his plans to potentially have one of the Tszyu boys face off against another Matchroom star later this year – new IBF super welterweight champion Josh Kelly.
Incredibly, No Limit’s successful Paro bid pipped Hearn’s Matchroom by just $27,000.
Initially, both promoters lodged private purse bids which were the unveiled during an early morning zoom call involving IBF executives and representatives of both camps.
The Rose boys lodged a bid of $1.152M.
Hearn’s stable, meanwhile, offered $1.125M
“And the Matchroom offer was read out first,” Rose cackled. “So I can tell you, waiting for the number that came after one million, one hundred … it felt like an eternity”.
But once it had?
“We didn’t need to wait and hear ours,” he grins. “But it was hard to control our excitement.”
Regardless, No Limit are now looking to finalise a date and Australian venue for the bout, with late March or early April being the most likely.
Asked about winning the Paro purse bid, Rose said: “This is the biggest purse win by an Australian boxing promoter ever.
“It’s huge.
“It’s not only great to get the win, but also by such a close margin.
“And then to do it against Matchroom, which Barry Hearn has built into a huge global entity.
“I mean, they’ve got a lot more money than we do.
“And that’s the reality we find ourselves with these situations, we’re always competing against billionaires, competing with old money … and to step up against a global company and get the win is a tremendous result.
“Not only for us, but Liam Paro.
“We promised we’d get him to a world title and he said he wanted it in Australia.
“And now we’ve been able to deliver on that.”
Quizzed on when he heard the news, Paro laughed: “I woke up to my alarm around 6.30 in the morning and saw a million missed calls from Alfie [Di Carlo, trainer].
“And they’d all been sent around 4am.
“So he wasn’t wasting any time in telling me.
“And then when I called him back, he nearly blasted my ear drum. It’s all just so crazy.
“Still feels unreal, really.
“But ever since signing with No Limit I spoke about wanting to fight for a world title here and now we have that.”
Rose also confirmed he was keen to have one of the Tszyu boys sharing the card, while stressing both were also now in line to face Hearn’s new IBF super welterweight champ Kelly later this year.
Last weekend in England, Kelly punched his way to an upset decision win over reigning IBF king Bakhram Murtazaliev – who was having his first fight since famously knocking out Tim Tszyu in 2024.
Tim Tszyu nemesis loses 12-round war | 05:48
Currently, the top three contender spots in the IBF super welterweight rankings are vacant, with Nikita Tszyu then in sixth spot, and older brother Tim only slightly further behind at No.9.
While Nikita is coming off a contentious No Contest against Michael Zerafa, older brother Tim is already back training under new coach Pedro Diaz in Miami, Florida – having returned to the winner’s circle with a strong decision win over American Anthony Velazquez in December.
“And both Tszyu boys are close to fighting again,” Rose said. “They’ve told us they want to be active and it would be great to have one of them join Liam’s world title card.
“Obviously we’ve only just won the purse bid so we’ll have to see where everything is at and which of them might be available first.
“The exact make up of the card — even the time and date — isn’t locked in yet.
“But we’re working on that furiously and hope to have an announcement next week.”
And as for having both Paro and a Tszyu taking on Matchroom’s best this year?
“Josh Kelly and Lewis Crocker are both UK champs from Matchroom,” Rose grinned.
“And we’d love to knock ‘em both off.
“First, we’ll be looking for Liam Paro to beat Crocker.
“But we’ve also got an eye firmly on Josh Kelly too, with both Tim and Nikita ranked inside the top 10.
“But most importantly, it will be when our guys are ready to take that shot.”
Ironically, Paro was previously managed by Hearn’s Matchroom promotions.
After initially upsetting IBF super lightweight champion Subriel Matias in Puerto Rico, the Queenslander was forced to go back there for his first defence against America’s Richardson Hitchins – which he lost by split decision.
“But had Liam had the opportunity to defend in Australia,” Rose stressed, “I firmly believe he never loses that fight.
“Defending here at home, he would’ve been so much harder to beat.
“And so now to be fighting in a world title bout at home, as the challenger … it provides you with so many little advantages.
“And when you’re fighting at this level, every percentage you can get adds up.”
Discussion about this post