Lewis Crocker: Chances ahead for former world champion – Conlan

Crocker and his team had hoped for a first defense in his native Belfast, but the IBF imposed mandatory defenses and Australian promoters. No Limit Boxing is a subsequent purse bid win The challenger enjoyed home advantage, eclipsing Matchroom by $27,000 (£20,000).

Conlan admitted “it was always going to be tough going to Brisbane” but felt “if the fight had been in Belfast, we would have won”.

“We just came up with it,” he said.

“Before (the tour), it was annoying that he had to go to Brisbane for his first defense but that was out of our control. All we could do was control the controllable, prepare the best, camp and he invested in himself.

“It’s the fine margins at world level that win or lose a fight: the fine margins of not having it in Belfast, the fine margins of that moment at the end when he was held and looking for that one punch to find the stoppage.

“I thought the referee (Tony Weeks) was pretty bad with the headbutt throughout, with the holding all over and low blows at the end, but credit where it’s due: Liam was very good, very tough and resilient. He’s a 140-pounder but fights big guys at 147 and is able to tough it out.”

Paro’s fast start helped him build an early lead and he did enough to stay ahead with his 10th win on all three cards, eventually requiring a knockdown for Crocker to pull it back.

It could have been a different story if he had started better, but his manager feels he will “learn a lot from that fight against a serious world-class operator”.

“It was really close,” he reflected.

“He started off a little slow and it bothered him because he knew he had the tank to push towards the end. It was always in the locker and he just had to prove it to himself, but he’s going to be a better fighter going forward.

“We just go back to the purse bid situation and if we had won it and fought here in Belfast, 100% he would still be world champion.”