Challenger Liam Paro (25-0, 15 KOs) surprisingly defeated IBF light welterweight champion Subriel Matias (20-2, 20 KOs by a 12-round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Coliseo Juan Aubin Cruz Abreu in Manati, Puerto Rico.
Paro used high volume to control the first half of the fight against the 32-year-old Matias, not allowing him to get set to throw.
In the fight’s second half, Paro utilized constant holding, shoving and moving to neutralize Matias’ offense. It was an ugly fight to watch due to the holding that Paro was using, but it worked for him and the referee allowed him to hold nonstop in the second half.
Paro tied up Matias each time he got close enough to throw, and he did a good job of diving him to hold. With the clinching that Paro was doing, Matias couldn’t get his shots off.
The scores were 115-112, 115-112 and 116-111.
Light welterweight Alfredo Santiago (15-2, 6 KOs) looked impressive, defeating Angel Fierro (22-2-1, 17 KOs) by a 10-round unanimous decision. Santiago hurt Fierro in the tenth round when he turned it on.
It’s unclear what the scores were because they were announced in Spanish and not repeated in English by the bearded, hair extension-wearing DAZN announcer. That was a little odd.
However, rather than finishing Fierro, Santiago boxed and moved for the last two minutes of the round. It appeared that Fierro hurt his right leg in the round and was wobbling.
The former lightweight Santiago had been out of the ring for two years going into tonight’s fight, but he looked great, showing no signs of ring rust.
Olympian Yankiel Rivera continued his climb up the professional boxing ranks, keeping his loss column clean. In a riveting display of skill, Rivera (6-0, 2 KOs) clinched a ten-round unanimous decision over the battle-hardened Victor Sandoval (37-5, 23 KOs). The bout was a tussle for the WBC, WBA Continental Americas, and WBO Intercontinental flyweight titles. Rivera sent Sandoval to the mat in the second round, effectively dictating the pace of the battle. His dominance was undisputed, sealing the deal with judges’ scores of 98-91, 98-91, and 97-92.