Liam Paro Sees Teofimo Lopez as Beatable

Paro has questioned how much of Teofimo’s lightweight power has followed him into the heavier divisions.

“Everyone thinks of Teo as this monster at 135 and at 140 pounds he wasn’t hurting anyone, and at 147 I don’t think he’s gonna do it either,” Paro previously told The Punch Podcast.

Since beating Rolly, Teofimo turned his focus entirely toward the Ryan Garcia versus Conor Benn victor. Paro rarely gets a mention in his recent comments. At the same time, Lopez dismissed the notion of giving Jack Catterall the mandatory shot at the WBA belt.

This puts Paro at the bottom of the pecking order. Lopez wants the massive Garcia Benn check right away. He intends to handle Catterall only when forced, leaving a clash with the Australian IBF champion on the back burner. The bigger paydays for Teofimo are against Ryan, Benn and Devin Haney. It makes sense that he’s eager to face them but not Paro and definitely not Catterall.

To run the table, Teofimo must keep his championship intact against whoever stands in his way before Paro gets his turn. His showing against Romero showed plenty of vulnerability. Romero rocked him during offensive flurries, only falling short because he refused to let his hands go consistently.

Paro cannot bank on Teofimo keeping the WBA crown until the schedule clears. The Australian titlist will likely have to defend his own strap or target other titleholders while Lopez hunts the biggest purses. By the time Teofimo finally gets around to this unification, one of them might already be empty handed.