Now ear this

Floyd Masson

Waipā boxer Floyd Masson took to social media to show off a cauliflower ear after his points loss to Polish boxer  Mateusz Masternak last weekend.

Floyd Masson

Masson, Te Awamutu born and Brisbane based, was making his first appearance in Europe.

He impressed in what proved to be a 6-4 win on rounds to the Pole – every judge scored the 10 round cruiserweight fight 96-94.

Masternak, 37, took his record to 49 wins from 55 bouts. He has pedigree – in December 2015 he went the distance with Tony Bellew, who later moved to heavyweight, twice knocked out David Haye and saw his own career finish at the hands of current world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in late 2018.

For Masson it was a second defeat in 16 outings. He lost his IBO World Cruiserweight title to Belgian Yves Ngabu last year.

A good showing in defeat, though, can open a lot of doors in boxing and Masson will have put himself in the frame for promoters looking for good match ups in the cruiserweight division.

“What has been noted by international boxing experts and Poland media is Masson might not have won the fight but he definitely won the fans, earning respect from the Polish people,” boxing scribe Benjamin Watt  told The News.

He expects Masson to get back into the ring in April at the earliest. Domestic competition could be in the form of WBA Oceania champion John Parker – brother of heavyweight Joseph – or Australian Jason Whateley,  who went the distance with Masternak in late 2022.

Floyd Masson

 

More Recent Sports

Sports celebrate home win

Te Awamutu notched up a 36-19 over Morrinsville at Albert Park in the premier men’s Breweries Shield division – on a day when another match was abandoned after a referee was abused. While competition leaders…

Tate sets sights on Brisbane

Te Kawa-based Tate Burdon is 12 – and he is already looking forward to his third BMX World Championships. New Zealand has lined up 285 riders to compete in the Sleeman Sports Complex in Brisbane…

Lift, hold… and gold

Waipā powerlifter Delwyn Evans, 62, overcame adversity to win gold at the IPF (International Powerlifting Federation) World Bench Press Championships in Warsaw, Poland last month. Read more

Waikato pipped at the post

Hong King China left it to the last minute to seal a 24-22 win over a Waikato XV in an international hosted by Te Awamutu Sports last week. Waikato,  with club players from seven premier…