HORN T O HONE SKILLS WITH LEFT Y P ARO
JEFF Horn will begin sparring with rising North Queensland star Liam Paro today as he hits top gear in preparation to defend his world welterweight title against unbeaten Terence Crawford in Las Vegas on April 14.
The slick southpaw helped Horn before his stunning upset over Manny Pacquiao at Suncorp Stadium last July, and is seen as a key factor again, given that the ambidextrous Crawford is often most dangerous from the southpaw stance.
“Liam was a big help before the Pacquiao fight and I’m really looking forward to working with him again,’’ Horn said.
“It’s the start of my main sparring now for the fight. I’ve been doing sparring drills with ( world No. 3 junior- middleweight) Dennis Hogan but the main preparation for the fight is kicking off now.
“Crawford fights as both a southpaw and orthodox fighter, so I am working with both styles to make sure I’ve got everything covered for the fight.’’
Paro, who is coached by lawyer Alfie Di Carlo, is undefeated in 12 fights and will contest the Australian superlightweight title against Melbourne- based Englishman Andrew Wallace at the Mansfield Tavern on March 17.
A former boxer under the Upper Ross Hawls banner, Paro continued his unbeaten run in Townsville late last year with a unanimous points win over Komkit Chanawong on the undercard of Mark Flanagan’s “Homecoming” bout at the Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre.
Horn will also do plenty of sparring work at his Stretton gym with his 2012 Olympic Games teammate Cameron Hammond, who is one of the fastest fighters in the country.
Meanwhile, the weekend saw major victories by three Australian fighters.
On Saturday night at Club Punchbowl in Sydney, unbeaten super- middleweight Bilal Akkawy won a lopsided 10- round decision over Italy’s former world champion Giovanni De Carolis.
Akkawy is now unbeaten in 18 fights.
At the St Kilda Town Hall in Melbourne, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Andrew Moloney won a 12- round unanimous decision over Filipino super- flyweight Rene Dacquil.
Andrew’s twin brother, Jason, retained the Commonwealth bantamweight title with a third- round stoppage of Immanuel Naidjala from Namibia.
The twins are both unbeaten in 16 professional fights.