Irishman Paddy Donovan has agreed terms to fight Australian Liam Paro in Brisbane in an IBF world welterweight title eliminator on 16 January.
Paro’s promoter No Limit Boxing made the announcement on social media that an agreement was in place for the fight to act as chief support to Nikita Tszyu’s middleweight fight against Michael Zerafa.
The winner of Paro-Donovan will be next in line to fight for the world title that is currently held by Belfast’s Lewis Crocker.
Crocker has been granted a voluntary defence first after beating Donovan in September in their rematch.
Donovan, 26, now has the opportunity to jump straight back into a world title fight should he negotiate a way past fellow southpaw Paro who is seeking to become a two-weight champion next year.
Paro made a successful move up to welterweight in September having previously been an IBF world champion at light-welterweight.
The 29-year-old’s sole blemish in 28 fights came when losing the IBF title to Richardson Hitchens in Puerto Rico last year, but has won twice since including his most recent win over France’s David Papot.
He will have home advantage at Brisbane Entertainment Centre against Donovan who is seeking to avoid a third-straight loss.
