Boxing: Floyd Masson books IBF and IBO Intercontinental title clash with Karim Maatalla

Waikato boxer Floyd Masson will fight Australasian cruiserweight champion Karim Maatalla.

Waikato boxer Floyd Masson has been booked for a high-risk fight that could launch the winner into the upper side of the rankings.

Masson, formerly of Te Awamutu and now living in Australia, will take on WBC Australasian cruiserweight champion Karim Maatalla in April.

Masson is currently on a winning streak after defeating Austine Nnamdi in March, John Parker for the IBF Pan Pacific cruiserweight title in July and Johan Linde in December.

With these wins, he is now ranked seventh in the IBF, 14th WBO, 14th WBC and 28th on Boxrec.

Maatalla is currently ranked 22nd on Boxrec and 23rd in the WBC.

The Masson v Maatalla fight will be for the IBF Intercontinental and IBO Intercontinental cruiserweight titles.

Winning the IBF version of the title would create a big boost in the rankings for either boxer.

A win for Masson could see him in the IBF’s top five, which gives him a high chance to fight for a world title eliminator.

But with that comes a big risk.

Maatalla has a record of 11 wins and 2 losses, and all of his wins were by way of knockout.

His losses were against significant boxers including Vita Pomale and Hamiltonian David Nyika.

Despite Nyika winning against Maatalla, it was an incredibly difficult fight and one of the three judges said at the time it was very close.

Maatalla has an extraordinary fight history, not only winning the WBC Australasian cruiserweight title against New Zealander Joshua Francis, but also winning the historical ANBF Australasian cruiserweight title against Renold Quinlan.

Maatalla also holds victories over many international opponents including American Stanley Johnson, former WBC Mediterranean champion Goran Babic and Fiji’s Alivereti Kauyaca.

Meanwhile, Masson has experience on his side, having 19 fights under his belt with a record of 17 wins and two losses.

Being a southpaw could also work in Masson’s favour, but Maatalla has a big reach advantage, as he is 12cm taller than Masson.

Though Masson recently had experience fighting someone taller than him, when he defeated Johan Linde.

Linde is 14cm taller – a significant height difference in boxing.

Masson v Maatalla for the IBF Intercontinental and IBO Intercontinental cruiserweight titles will take place on April 8 near Sydney, Australia at The William Inglis Hotel.

Benjamin Watt is a retired boxing judge and New Zealand boxing writer with a decade of experience. Watt has also been BoxRec’s New Zealand record-keeper since 2014.