Floyd Masson (14-1, 8 KOs) will face the most experienced opponent of his career when he heads to Wroclaw, Poland to fight former world title contender Mateusz Masternak (48-6, 32 KOs) on November 16.
The fight appears to have been an instant success, with Australian Kiwi southpaw Masson learning about boxing just over a month out from the proposed bout.
He jumped at the chance.
“We were trying to fight the way things looked, it was going to be a fight abroad,” said Masson, 32, explaining to The Ring, who will be having his first fight outside his home country. . “So my promoters, Angelo Di Carlo and Glenn Hosking, of Ace Boxing got our feelings out and we got a few offers, including from the Americans, but the dates didn’t go through.
“Then we got this request with Masternak, which was a fight I would like to have anyway because he is in the top 10. [with the IBF]. It was just a big opportunity and when they offered us the fight, I spoke to my coach Blair Studley and he was keen on it, so we just took it straight away.”
Masson, who was born in the regional town of Te Awamutu on New Zealand’s North Island but hails from Queensland’s capital, Brisbane, is still in the rebuilding phase of his career after being stopped by rugged Belgian Yves Ngabu in the sixth round. their slugfest at Eatons Hill Hotel in September last year.
He has since hired Studley, from Nitro Boxing Club in Chermside, as his new trainer. In their first outing together in August, Masson resisted his natural urge to brawl and cut and stopped Kiwi Joshua ‘Chucky’ Francis in four.
“It was good to get back out there, get a win and put that loss behind me,” Masson said. “When you lose the first time, you just want to go back there and win again. And obviously I had to wait a little while with injuries and stuff like that, but it was really good. “
Everything went according to plan for Masson in Francis’s war. He was quick, sharp and accurate, showing close defense, unleashing his charge forward with strong counters to the body and head.
“I definitely felt calm and comfortable there, it was great,” Masson said. “It was my first fight with my new coach, which was the first time in a long time that I felt I had someone backing me up. I could go back into the corner and actually listen to Blair’s instructions and try to apply them in battle, which makes a big difference. We played really well.”
With Masson looking under Studley’s guidance on their first tour, the real litmus test will come for Masternak. This seasoned player, who is 37 years old, showed last year that he can still compete with the best when he challenged The Ring legend, Chris Billam-Smith, for the WBO belt in Bournemouth, England last December.
Masternak was more than competitive. He controlled the range well and his right hand was an important weapon, but it was Billam-Smith’s body attack that finally brought him down. When he failed to answer the bell to start the eighth, Masternak was leading five rounds in the second round with two judges scoring even in the third.
Masson has studied his opponent and said he knows what to expect from Masternak, who will face his first left-handed opponent in a dozen years.
“When I look at his previous fights, it’s obvious that he has experience and it seems like he’s adjusting well as the fight goes on. And obviously, this comes with experience. In the CBS fight, he looked sharp and had a good right hand and he was sitting on that right hand a lot,” he said.
“Obviously he’s going to be an older fighter and he’s had a lot of fights in his career. I think the main thing for me is that I have to hold my own and fight with a smart gameplan. I know I can beat him. It was the last thing for me to respond to a pub fight – and I’m sure he’s had plenty of those types of fights – but it’ll be interesting to see how much he’s got left in the tank.
“He is definitely a player to beat and we believe we can beat him. We just need to punch smart and I just need to do what I do to win.”
