Boxing: Floyd Masson wins in Australia after last-minute opponent change

Waikato boxer Floyd Masson clocked up another win.

Waikato boxer Floyd Masson has clocked up another win, despite a last-minute change to his opponent.

Masson, originally from Te Awamutu and now living in Australia, was meant to fight Indian boxer Dharmender Grewal last Thursday, who withdrew two days out from the event.

However, Australian boxer Johan Linde was found as a replacement.

The fight took place on the undercard of No Limit Boxing’s Liam Paro vs David Papot main event.

Linde, about 106 kg, is a heavyweight fighter. To take him on, Masson, around 90kg, who is usually in the cruiserweight class, had to fight as a heavyweight for the first time.

Linde came into the fight with a record of 6 - 2 - 1, including a recent win against Kane Baker, on the Sonny Bill Williams vs Paul Gallen undercard.

Linde is also 15cm taller than Masson, which Masson needs to get used to as he climbs the ranks - especially with his aim to fight David Nyika in the future.

Linde has never been knocked out.

But Masson came away with a win by unanimous decision, with the judges’ scorecards showing 60-54.

Masson impressed the promoters on the night, being able to hold pressure on Linde, and creating a game plan on a difficult opponent with two days notice.

Masson’s punches were accurate, landing to the body and head throughout the fight and making Linde pay when he let his guard down.

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With this victory, Masson’s team is hoping he can climb the rankings into the top 10 in the IBF.

Masson is currently ranked 11th in the IBF, 14th in the WBC and 32nd on Boxrec.

These rankings put him in a good position for a possible world title contender fight, if any of the current world champions want to volunteer for a title defence.

However, if Masson wants to fight for an eliminator, he needs to get into the top 10.

Masson will fight again in November, but dates, venue and opponent have not yet been announced.

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.