Once-defeated cruiserweight Floyd Masson has a problem.
His fights are too entertaining.
The softly-spoken Kiwi southpaw who boxes out of Brisbane, Australia, found that out the hard way against Belgium’s Yves Ngabu, a fellow lefty, last September.
Masson (13-1, 7 knockouts) started off well enough in the contest, but as the bout devolved into a slugfest, it was the bull-strong Ngabu (23-2, 17 KOs) who repeatedly got the better of the exchanges.
By the fourth round Masson was cut by a punch, but the ringside physician allowed the bout to continue. Masson, who is known for his big tank, tried to dig deep but the heavy hands of Ngabu, 35, eventually wore him down. He was dropped in the sixth round and although he beat the count, referee Will Soulos decided he had seen enough.
The result was a bitter pill to swallow for Mason, who prides himself on his all-action style.
That style has served him well in the past. Against former world title challenger Mark Flanagan (26-9, 19 KOs) in December 2021, he went toe-to-toe with the renowned hardman to win a 10-round majority decision. Masson was down in the opening frame, while Flanagan found himself on the deck in the fourth.
Two fights later, he delivered a similarly thrilling performance against Italian southpaw Fabio Turchi (23-3, 16 KOs) in April last year. In that bout, both boxers bounced each other around the ring for the full 12 rounds. Blood was spilled. Black eyes were acquired. The teak-tough Turchi found a home for his left hook early, but Masson pushed through the pain to alternate between boxing and brawling, finishing the fight the stronger of the two to win a unanimous decision by scores of 117-110 and 115-112 twice.
The bloody battle left both boxers hospitalized in what was the Fight of the Year on Australian shores.
Those performances make for fond memories for the fans, but they don’t typically translate to lengthy careers in the ring.
That’s why Masson’s next bout is so important. The boxer-puncher will take on Joshua ‘Chucky’ Francis (15-2-1, 11 KOs), an aggressive orthodox fighter out of Auckland, New Zealand, who has proven to be particularly dangerous in the early rounds of his fights. The pair will meet at the Mansfield Tavern in Brisbane on August 17 in the main event of the next Premier Boxing Series card, which will be broadcast live and free on streaming service 7plus.
The question here is whether Masson can resist the urge to brawl when the first hard shot lands on his chin.
“Our styles suit each other,” said Masson, who ranks Arturo Gatti as his all-time favorite fighter. “Obviously, he wants to come and fight and that’s what I like to do too. I wanted to have a good fight coming back.
“I fell short in my last fight and there were things I did wrong, things I could’ve improved, but unfortunately, I had to take a bit of time off too where I got injured, so I had to get myself right from that too.
“But I pretty much started training two days after I lost that fight, so I’ve been in the gym ever since while I was recovering from the injury.
“I’m pretty excited to get back in there and I still want to test myself and have a good fight back, not do all that training to fight someone you know you can beat.”
Masson says that the elbow injuries that have plagued his career are now a thing of the past after he successfully underwent surgery to remove some troublesome bones.
“In the Turchi fight, I ended up fracturing some bones in my elbow again,” said Masson, who hails from the regional town Te Awamutu in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s north island
“Going into camp for my last fight, I couldn’t even brush my teeth. I was in agony. I went and got the surgery done – the third I’ve had on my elbow – and it should be fine now.
“I’ve been back in camp and it’s been amazing being able to throw both arms 100 per cent and being able to block shots with the arm as well. It’s been really nice.”
So can we expect to see a calmer, more focused Masson in the ring against Francis?
“I say it every bloody fight, so I almost don’t want to say it,” he said. “Because in camp, I’ll box really good and not get hit, do my thing, and box really nice. And as soon as it comes to the fight, I do the opposite of what I say. So I probably should say, ‘This fight, I’m going to have a war,’ and that probably means I’ll box real nice.
“But it’s all about being disciplined and backing your skills. Then, rather than as soon as I get hit and trying to make a fight of it, I can make it a lot easier on myself if I stick to a game plan and box and not turn it into a ‘my turn, his turn’ type of fight.”
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