LEWIS Crocker travelled to Brisbane as the IBF Welterweight World Champion to face challenger Liam Paro. The Australian and Queensland native looked comfortable in front of the home crowd and despite being the challenger would have probably felt like the favourite. This was constantly reiterated during fight week by Crocker who either genuinely thrives off the underdog mentality or was attempting to instill complacency in his opponent.
Paro’s record going into the bout was an impressive 27-1, the single defeat coming at the hands of Richardson Hitchins in Puerto Rico where he lost the IBF light-welterweight world title that he held for only six months. Now up to welterweight, Paro claims to be more comfortable at 147lbs.
Crocker too was said to be ‘feeling great’ in the lead up to the fight and felt he was ‘the bigger puncher’. Crocker travelled out two weeks in advance to acclimatise to the conditions and the time difference. Although technically winter in Australia, Brisbane still sits comfortably between lows of 10°C and highs of 21°C throughout July, as does Belfast.
Crocker split from his Glasgow-based trainer Billy Nelson who led him to the world title when he defeated Paddy Donovan by a split decision last September in Belfast’s SSE Arena. Now training with Huzaifah Iqbal in Surrey in a strong stable of fighters that includes Belfast’s Kurt Walker and Galway’s Kieran Molloy, Crocker feels that his boxing is moving in the right direction.
The Pat Rafter Arena hosted the fight, named after professional tennis player and former Grand Slam winner and proud Queenslander known for his classic style of finesse over power. Who would take home the strap, the powerful puncher in Crocker or the slick southpaw Paro?
A Wednesday night fight in Australia was watched on by many fans in Belfast over their lunch-breaks; a strange time for a world title defence to be broadcast live to the fans of the current world champion.
Ten months on from his last fight could there be potential for a little ring rust? It looked like it, as Crocker made a relatively slow start but still stayed on the front foot throughout, constantly coming forward and applying pressure.
There was little to report in the opening rounds in terms of big shots landing. The fifth was impressive from Crocker who was starting to find his groove. The Sandy Row native landed a big shot that, if Paro had been coming forward, might have been more damaging but the Aussie’s backward movement took all the sting from the blow. The Belfast man went through the gears, his performance crescendoing nicely and was in full flow in the closing three rounds. Paro was tiring too, Crocker was perhaps sensing an opportunity. The fans in Belfast watched on anxiously knowing that a big shot could be required to offset some early round complacency and take the fight out of the judges hands.
Paro was beginning to run out of space in the ring and Crocker was running out of time. Ultimately it wasn’t to be. The fight came to an undramatic close and neither fighter looked convinced that they had won. The judges scored it 115-113 in favour of Paro who becomes a two-weight world champion. Crocker’s unbeaten run as a professional coming to an end.
Paro fought well and it was a very close fight but given the time and the location the result felt like a genuine day-light robbery. Are the days where the challenger must prove they are the superior fighter and metaphorically ‘take’ the belt from the champion gone? World Champion straps are becoming a bit like a game of pass the parcel. Passed around until finally the birthday boy takes the prize because it's his house and his party.
Crocker returns home without the belt and next week once the jet lag haze lifts he might be wondering how the hell that happened.
