Are there any rules Liam Paro didn’t break?

He still is a monster, that hasn't change and my support for him hasn't waned in the least. It's merely a case of Paro bringing a style, chin, hustle and savviness to the table that Matias wasn't adequately prepared for. It happens, and based on what Paro showed me the other day, it'll happen many more times in the future, because he has a skillset that's potentially nightmarish to most of the fighters at 140.

 

In the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." Sure, Paro was dirty as hell throughout and like you, I didn't mind all of the warnings from Pabon, I think they were well deserved and not excessive. But Paro also plain and simple outboxed Matias, his strategy was top shelf, while the dirty tactics may have aided him slightly, without the chin, the stamina, the southpaw stance, the hand speed, the volume, the angles, the footwork, the accuracy, the constant turning, forcing Matias to reset, the solid defense, he wouldn't have been able to implement said strategy.

Also, let's not get it twisted, if we want to speak about hypocrisy in the sport of boxing, Had Haney been the one in there that shoved, clinched, rabbit punched, low blowed, headbutted, held and hit, stepped on toes, kidney punched, and roughed up his way to victory. He would have received no warnings or points docked from the biased American ref, they'd have even made sure to blow calls on a few knockdowns scored against for good measure, anything to ensure his victory. Would Matias fans have butched and moaned? Sure they would have. Would Haney's fangirls came to his defense? Sure they would have. But that's par for the course, because that's what fanboys do.

 

There's absolutely nothing average about Matias. Why undermine and undercut Paro's tremendous win like that? It took literally every weapon in Paro's arsenal to pull off that win, Matias was every bit as relentless as he always is, it took Paro surpassing his output and equalling his willpower to pull it off. The vast majority of opponents if faced with what Paro had coming at him the entire night, would have surely wilted under the pressure, including Haney.