Ryan Garcia shared his thoughts that Manny Pacquiao would beat the new beltholder, almost a year removed from his 12-round majority draw against then-champion Mario Barrios.

Garcia (25-2, 20 KOs) was the beneficiary of an undeserving title shot and bossed his way past Barrios over 12 rounds to win the WBC title in February.

He is slated to defend his belt against mandatory challenger Conor Benn in September, while WBA beltholder Rolando "Rolly" Romero, who outfoxed Garcia in May 2025, is rumored to be facing Teofimo Lopez in mid-August.

Paro (28-1, 16 KOs) finds himself in the thick of world-level conversations again, exactly two years after his stunning points win over Subriel Matias to wrestle away the IBF 140-pound title in Puerto Rico.

Richardson Hitchins (20-0, 8 KOs), who beat him six months later before another short-lived title reign, praised his former foe on social media and believes Paro would probably clean out the division's champions.

Whether big-money unifications or legacy-enhancing title defenses against world-level names, No Limit CEO George Rose reiterated an eagerness to bring more big names Down Under in Wednesday's post-fight presser.

Local reports claim No Limit are interested in luring Pacquiao back to Australia for a voluntary defense, nine years after Jeff Horn outpointed the Filipino legend to win WBO welterweight honors at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.

Paro, who shared more than 100 rounds sparring with Horn in preparation for that bout, has maintained a willingness to fight anybody and will have up to nine months' grace before an order to face mandatory challenger Paddy Donovan (15-2, 11 KOs) next year. The following day, Rose left the door open to interpretation.

"Anything is possible in boxing. The fact that Pacquiao is back fighting, looking for fights ... we've got a world champion here, I know that belt will entice him, that's the beauty of Liam being a world champion," he said at a media news conference by Brisbane River.

"Before, he's a guy that people would wanna avoid because he's obviously one of the best in the world, now there's something to earn if they step in the ring with him. We've got a bit of bait for them, so come get the bait."

Crocker's late surge wasn't enough to turn the tide against Paro, who outworked him and outboxed the travelling titleholder astutely for sustained periods in the first-half.

The 29-year-old cranked up the pressure late and hurt the challenger repeatedly as they exchanged stinging shots, forcing Paro to instinctively survive along the ropes or at close-range.

Three-division world champion Devin Haney (33-0, 15 KOs, 1 NC), who previously travelled to Australia for his two-fight series with former unified lightweight titleholder George Kambosos, wasn't exactly impressed and suggested his former opponent Brian Norman would have the tools to dethrone the new champion if they fought.

Nonetheless, Paro acquitted himself well in what represented only his second fight at the weight class against a naturally bigger man who has boxed at junior middleweight previously and could well move up in future.

"We're not playing marbles, we're fighting," the new champion joked afterwards when discussing his newfound battle scars.

He had stitches over his left eye and a cut under his right, sharing that his vision was blurry but he couldn't afford to think too much with Crocker intent on scoring a fight-altering knockdown.

"If you do, you'll be on the canvas. Just fight ... I knew I was up but he kept me on my toes, knew he was behind and tried to get me out of there but I had to weather the storm.

"I've got to let the eye heal, have some downtime with the family, but I'm all about legacy fights... the belt just secured massive paydays, big fights. I'm always about challenging myself, don't wanna die wondering."

Said to be nursing a shoulder injury as well as the cut eye, his trainer Angelo di Carlo said Australia's newest world champion will have at least a month off gym work before considering their next options.

"The fact no-one has done this in 39, 40 years speaks for itself in terms of how monumental the task he did was, I'm super proud he stuck to the gameplan, stayed calm under fire and getting the win," the trainer said.

"Liam showed the world that he's at the top of the tree in the 147-pound division. He can take anybody, all of those guys are available and we're interested in. There's no-one we'd say no to. I know the type of kid he is, he'll fight anybody."