When is Liam Paro vs. Jonathan Navarro?

Liam Paro vs. Jonathan Navarro is on Wednesday, June 25. The broadcast will begin at 7 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time (5 a.m. Eastern Time in the U.S., 10 a.m. BST in the U.K).

As this article went to press, the only official broadcasts are in Australia on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Freebies. No outlets have been named yet in the U.S. or U.K.

Where is Liam Paro vs. Jonathan Navarro?

The fight is taking place at the Cairns Convention Centre in Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

Who is Liam Paro?

Paro, 25-1 (15 KOs), is returning for the first time since losing the IBF junior welterweight title to Richardson Hitchins last December in Puerto Rico. Although the judges’ verdict was a split decision, it was otherwise a clear victory for Hitchins, who started slowly but then picked up momentum from around the fourth round onward.

That meant Paro, a 29-year-old from Brisbane, Australia, never got a homecoming victory lap after taking the title from Subriel Matias in June 2024, also in Puerto Rico, where Matias hails from. 

Paro had been racking up the frequent flier miles. After developing in his home country, he stepped up his level of competition and traveled to North America for four of his next five outings: wins over the previously undefeated Yomar Alamo, the once-beaten Montana Love, Matias, and the defeat against Hitchins. Paro is back in Queensland for his first bout there since October 2022 – a quick win over Brock Jarvis that came between the Alamo and Love fights. It’s otherwise not exactly close to home; Cairns is more than 1,000 miles away from Brisbane, longer than the entire California coast. 

Still, it will be an easier journey for Paro to the Cairns Convention Centre. And he is hoping to work his way back into the title picture, or at least toward another big fight given how packed things are at 140lbs. Paro is currently ranked No. 4 by the IBF and WBO, and No. 7 by the WBC.

“It’s a real homecoming for me,” Paro said last month. “I’ve always wanted to fight back in Queensland – where I grew up, where I first dreamed of becoming a world champion. I never got the chance to do that when I held the belt, but that’s about to change. I’ve been chasing fights all over the world for years, but now with [promoters] No Limit behind me, we’re bringing big-time boxing to Queensland. And this fight in Cairns is just the beginning.”

Who is Jonathan Navarro?

Navarro, 18-1 (9 KOs), is an unranked 28-year-old from California. He is related to three other pro boxers: His brother David is a 7-1 featherweight/junior lightweight, cousin Steven is a 6-0 junior bantamweight, and cousin Chantel is a 5-0 bantamweight.

Jonathan Navarro has been in the paid ranks for nearly a decade, but nearly five years passed between an October 2019 victory and a July 2024 return to the ring. He was supposed to face Pablo Cesar Cano in March 2021. Cano pulled out of the bout, and Navarro landed in the main event of an April 2021 Ring City card instead. But then a training injury was revealed to be a torn biceps tendon.

Navarro won his first comeback bout, a close eight-round decision over the 21-10 Clarence Booth. He lost on points in his last outing, however, against the 17-3 Jair Valtierra in December.

What other fights are on the undercard of Liam Paro vs. Jonathan Navarro?

The co-feature will put junior lightweight Liam Wilson against Ayrton Osmar Gimenez. 

Wilson, 15-3 (8 KOs), is from Queensland as well. He is a familiar name to those who recall his ninth-round TKO loss to Emanuel Navarrete in a bout for a vacant junior lightweight belt in February 2023, or his seventh-round TKO loss to Oscar Valdez in an interim title bout in March 2024. Wilson has since won two straight, both against Youssef Dib, one via KO last July and one via decision in March. 

Gimenez, 22-1 (4 KOs), is competing outside of his home country of Argentina for just the second time. The first time brought his sole defeat, a wide decision in Italy won by the 21-1 Michael Magnesi. Gimenez returned home and has put together a five-fight win streak, including a unanimous decision this March over the 26-11-1 Diego Alberto Ruiz.

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David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter. David’s book, “,” is available on Amazon.