Entertainer Floyd Masson wants to make the fight easier for the August 17th return to the ring

Former cruiserweight Floyd Masson is in trouble.

His fights are very entertaining.

The soft-spoken Kiwi southpaw from Brisbane, Australia, found himself at odds with fellow left-hander Yves Ngabu of Belgium last September.

Masson (13-1, 7 knockouts) started well enough in the contest, but as the fight turned into a slugfest, it was the powerful Ngabu (23-2, 17 KOs) who got the better of him repeatedly.

In the fourth round Masson was stopped by a punch, but the ring doctor allowed the fight to continue. Masson, who is known for his big tank, tried to dig deeper but the heavy hands of Ngabu, 35, ended up crushing him. He was knocked out 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 do-it-all style.

We’ve really admired that style in the past. Facing former world titleholder Mark Flanagan (26-9, 19 KOs) in December 2021, he met the notorious hardman to win a 10-round majority decision. Masson was down in the opening frame, while Flanagan found himself on the floor in fourth.

Two fights later, he did the same against Italian southpaw Fabio Turchi (23-3, 16 KOs) in April of last year. In that fight, both boxers fought in the ring after 12 rounds. Blood was shed. Black eyes were found. The Teak-Tough Turchi found home to his left hook early, but Masson pushed through the pain to alternate between punching and brawling, ending a tight fight between the two to win a unanimous decision by scores of 117-110 and 115-112 twice.

A bloody fight left both boxers hospitalized at the Fight of the Year event on Australian shores.

Those matches make fond memories for fans, but often don’t translate into long careers in the ring.

That’s why Masson’s next game is so important. This boxer will face Joshua ‘Chucky’ Francis (15-2-1, 11 KOs), a boxer from Auckland, New Zealand, who has proved dangerous especially 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 of charge on streaming service 7plus.

The question here is whether Masson can resist the urge to fight when the first hard shot lands on his chin.

“Our styles match,” said Masson, who lists Arturo Gatti as his favorite fighter of all time. “Obviously he wants to fight and that’s what I like to do. I wanted to fight well and come back.

“I failed in my last fight and there are things I did, things I could have done better, but unfortunately I had to take a break when I got injured, so I had to fix myself there. again.

“But I started training two days after losing that fight, so I’ve been in the gym since then while I’m recovering from the injury.

“I’m very happy to be back there and I still want to test myself and fight well, not doing all that training to fight someone you know you can beat.”

Masson says the elbow injury that plagued his career is now a thing of the past after he successfully underwent surgery to remove the troublesome bones.

“In the Turki battle, I broke the bones in my elbow again,” said Masson, who hails from the regional town of Te Awamutu in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island.

“As I went to camp for my last fight, I couldn’t even brush my teeth. I was in pain. I went and had surgery – third time on my elbow – and it should be fine now.

“I’m back in camp and I’m surprised that I can throw both arms 100 percent and I can block shots with my arm as well. It was really good.”

So can we expect to see a calm, focused Masson in the ring against Francis?

“I always say bloody fighting, so I probably don’t want to say it,” he said. “Because in the camp, I will punch really well without hitting, do my thing, and box very well. And when it comes to fighting, I do the opposite of what I say. So I probably have to say, ‘This fight, I’m going to have a fight,’ and that probably means I’m going to hit it really well.

“But it’s all about discipline and supporting your skills. Then, rather than as soon as I get hit and try to fight it, I can make it easier for myself if I stick to the game plan and box and not turn it into a ‘my turn, his turn’ type of fight.”