New date announced for Lewis Crocker vs Liam Paro world title fight

The details surrounding the world title fight between Lewis Crocker and Liam Paro have now been confirmed.

Crocker won the vacant IBF welterweight title back in September when he dropped Paddy Donovan twice in on his way to a split decision victory in their rematch at Windsor Park in Belfast.

It was a far cry from the performance that ‘The Croc’ had put in six months prior, where Donovan had dominated the majority of the action before being controversially disqualified in the eighth round, but in the second meeting Crocker proved his quality to triumph.

A mandatory defence against Paro was then ordered, with the Australian’s promoters No Limit Boxing winning the purse bid back in February, and initially announcing that they planned for the fight to take place in April.

A hand injury to Crocker meant that couldn’t happen, and now that he appears to have recovered from that injury, the new date and location for the bout has been revealed, with the pair set to collide at the Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, Australia on June 24.

Paro will serve a tough test for Crocker, with the Australian previously holding the IBF super-lightweight title, defeating Subriel Matias to become champion back in June 2024 before losing the belt to Richardson Hitchins six months later.

He now attempts to become a two-weight world champion when he faces Crocker, but the Belfast man will be keen to make his first defence and then look towards potential unification clashes in the 147lb division.