Liam Paro Brisbane fight card rocked by last-minute fight cancellation dramas

Tom Naghten

Liam Paro Brisbane fight card rocked by last-minute fight cancellation dramas image

No Limit Boxing/Scott Davis

No Limit Boxing is frantically scrambling to keep its fight card together following 36 hours of chaos.

The Aussie promoter is due to a host a show in Brisbane this Thursday, headlined by an IBF welterweight world title eliminator between Liam Paro and Frenchman David Papot.

Fortunately, that fight is intact, as is the chief support featuring Liam Wilson and Jorge Santana, from the Dominican Republic.

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Then the drama starts.

Brock Jarvis is out of his fight with Ken Aitken on account of a shoulder issue which may require surgery.

Aitken is now being lined up to face Sonny Knight.

Light heavyweight Paulo Aokuso, who is due to return to a No Limit show after more than two years away, was set to fight Shukhrat Abdullaev before visa issues prevented the Uzbek's entry into Australia.

Former domestic super welterweight contender Ben Hussain, who hasn’t fought since last April, has been drafted in as a potential opponent for Aokuso, pending negotiations over weight and money, although No Limit boss George Rose said nothing had been agreed yet by the time of Tuesday's press conference.

"What we had was a really great, well-matched fight card for Thursday night and spanners have been thrown in the works," Rose told Sporting News.

"We've been searching for an opponent [for Aokuso], Ben Hussain put his hand up. He's currently walking around very heavy so they're trying to negotiate a deal at the moment.

"I'm hoping they do land on something because I really want to see Paulo back.

"I think he's hungry to fight. I think we'll get a resolution, he wants to kickstart this run again."

Paulo Aokuso Ben Hussain

No Limit Boxing/Scott Davis

Rose confirmed that Jarvis' injury could also force their hand when it comes to making a fight between Nikita Tszyu and Michael Zerafa later in the year.

"[Jarvis] rang up yesterday shattered, he's out, he's gotta go in for surgery to get it fixed, It's really halted that momentum that he's been building," he added.

"I wanted to see how Brock went on this card to make a decision on where go went to next with Nikita but that's just ruled out one of the options."

Finally, Floyd Masson looks set to fight Johan Linde, after his scheduled bout with Dharmender Grewel fell through.

Regardless of the drama on the undercard, headliner Paro is confident of getting the job done against Papot, who boasts a 30-0-1 record.

"It's just up to me to execute the gameplan, I'm very confident in the gameplan, don't ask me to share it, you'll see it on Thursday," Paro said.

"Papot likes to box and move a little bit, he has fought some tough opponents but I just believe they are fringe level.

"I've been at the pinnacle, I've been at the elite, I am at the elite level. We've got some traps that we're going to set and I feel he's going to fall for them."

Tom Naghten

Tom Naghten is a senior editor at The Sporting News Australia where he's been part of the team since 2017. He predominantly covers boxing and MMA. In his spare time, he likes to watch Robbie Ahmat's goal against the Kangaroos at the SCG in 2000.