Liam Paro overcame a horrific eye injury to keep his hopes of becoming a two-weight world champion alive.
The former IBF super lightweight title holder returned to his home state of Queensland, Australia, on Thursday afternoon to duke it out with France’s David Papot in an IBF welterweight eliminator bout.
Paro was forced to summon up every ounce of his strength to secure a unanimous decision victory by margins of 117-111, 116-112, and 116-112.
The Aussie was caught on shaky legs more than once, while his right eye swelled up to the size of a golf ball during the course of the 12-round war of attrition.
Speaking in the immediate aftermath, the hometown hero said: “I can barely see.
“It’s a pearler, I’ll be wearing some nice sunnies.
“Back to the drawing board, this is the elite level. You slip up once and end up like this.
“I want to become a two-weight world champion; the dream doesn’t stop.
“Credit to Papot, he was undefeated for a reason. He was crafty, he’s a hell of a fighter, and we had to dig deep.
“That’s boxing, we’re not playing marbles.”
Paro got off to a bright start but was saved by the bell in the fourth round when he was rocked badly by a straight left in the closing 13 seconds.
The concussive blow left Paro with damage to his right eye, but the Aussie dug deep to meet fire with fire.
GettyA massive left hand caused some serious swelling to Paro’s right eye[/caption] GettyParo’s eye looked like a golf ball by the end of the fight[/caption]In the eleventh frame, Papot buzzed Paro again with a sharp left hook.
Yet the one-eyed boxer stayed on his feet to land several punishing combinations of his own.
Many felt the Papot should have got the nod at the final bell.
However, it is Paro who will move on to sterner tests.
How important was the victory for Liam Paro?
The 29-year-old is now in an extremely strong position to challenge the newly crowned IBF welterweight champion Lewis Crocker, who upset Paddy Donovan on Saturday for the vacant strap.
At present, the No.1 and No.2 welterweight positions are vacant.
Expect Paro to fill one of those spots once the dust settles on his 147lbs debut.
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