Te Awamutu-born boxer Floyd Masson is set to fight John Parker. Photo / Combat Analytics
Te Awamutu-born boxer Floyd Masson is set to fight John Parker. Photo / Combat Analytics
Floyd Masson will take on John Parker for the IBF Pan Pacific Cruiserweight title in Australia at the end of this month.
For a while now, there have been calls for Masson, originally of Te Awamutu, to take on more of the other New Zealand boxers in the booming cruiserweightdivision.
The upcoming fight is a bout between champions, with Masson being a former IBO world cruiserweight champion and Parker, brother of Joseph Parker, being the current WBA Oceania cruiserweight champion.
Since his world title loss in 2023, Masson has been on the road to redemption.
His first fight back was successful with a knockout win against New Zealander Joshua Francis in August last year.
He lost, though, in November 2024 against former world title contender Mateusz Masternak, in Poland, which ended in controversy as many, including Masternak’s team, believed that Masson won that fight.
Masson’s last fight was in March this year when he fought on an Australian mega-promoter undercard, No Limit Boxing, for the first time.
He earned a shutout victory against Nigerian boxer Austine Nnamdi.
Masson is currently ranked 15th in the IBF, 23rd in the WBC and 36th on Boxrec.
He doesn’t currently hold any titles, however a win this month would give him a big boost in the rankings.
Meanwhile, Parker hasn’t been in the ring since September last year when he defeated Fijian Alivereti Kauyaca for the WBA Oceania cruiserweight title.
After making his debut in 2016, he was forced into early retirement due to an MRI result of a potential brain aneurysm.
Boxer Joseph Parker (left) with his brother John Parker in 2016. Photo / Doug Sherring
It was later revealed that the result had been a false positive and Parker was cleared for in-ring competition.
He returned to the ring in 2020 and was undefeated until suffering his first loss in 2022 against Dylan Wright.
After taking some time off, Parker returned in December 2023.
Parker won his first title in April 2024, the New Zealand national (Pro Box New Zealand version) cruiserweight title, against Salo Ben Vui.
Shortly after, he won the WBA Oceania cruiserweight title.
Parker hasn’t previously been ranked by any of the major boxing organisations and this month’s fight will be Parker’s first outside of New Zealand as a professional boxer.
He is currently training alongside his older brother, current interim WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker, who is preparing for his next fight in September (his opponent is still to be determined).
John Parker’s current main coach is former WBA world middleweight champion Maselino Masoe.
The Floyd Masson-John Parker bout for the IBF Pan Pacific Cruiserweight title will take place on July 30.
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.
