A formal press release was issued today announcing the December 19 welterweight title unification between Devin Haney and Liam Paro at San Francisco’s Chase Center, and in anticipation of the meeting with a co-feature of Brian Norman vs Abel Ramos, Haney shared his excitement for what he expects to be another successful outing to snag some more hardware.
“My resume speaks for itself,” Haney said. “I’ve never been afraid to go into a champion’s backyard and put my record on the line. I went to Australia,
took George Kambosos’ belts, and became undisputed lightweight champion of the world. Now I’m bringing another Australian world champion, Liam Paro, into my backyard. This time, I plan to take his belt and become a unified welterweight world champion right here at home. “Oakland is where my story started, and the Bay Area has always been part of who I am. The Valkyries just brought a championship to Chase Center, and on December 19, I plan to keep that championship energy going.
“I made history in Australia. Now it’s time to make history at home.”
Paro, however hopes to upset the odds, knowing he’ll be coming into this fight as a decided underdog.
“Three years ago, I was on the undercard at Chase Center the night Devin fought Regis Prograis,” Paro said. “I said back then that Haney versus Paro rolls off the tongue. Now it’s here. Champion versus champion, two belts on the line, in his backyard.
“I’ve never taken the easy road. I went to Puerto Rico and took the title off Matias in front of his own people. Devin’s a great fighter and I respect that. But I’ve been the underdog plenty of times and I’ve made history before. December 19, I’m coming to unify the division and make more history.”
With the WBO and IBF welterweight world titles on the line, one fight will be heading into the new year halfway to undisputed.
