After nearly a yr on the sidelines, cruiserweight Floyd Masson returned to the winner’s circle.
The cruiserweight hopeful earned a fourth-round stoppage of Joshua Francis. Masson compelled referee Phil Austin to intervene at 1:25 of spherical 4 Saturday night on the Mansfield Tavern in his adopted hometown of Brisbane, Australia.
The bout marked the primary since final September for Masson (14-1, 8 knockouts). The New Zealand-born southpaw hadn’t fought since a sixth-round stoppage loss to Belgium slugger Yves Ngabu (23-2, 17 KOs), his lone profession defeat.
No proof of ring rust surfaced. Masson, 32, boxed conservatively and seemed sharp within the opening spherical earlier than more and more opening the throttle. Francis pressed the motion, however it was Masson who landed the cleaner, sharper photographs.
Auckland’s Francis, 29, managed to get in some good work to each the physique and head within the second warmth. Masson weathered the storm, timed his opponent’s rushes with sensible counters and landed hurtful physique photographs of his personal. Late within the spherical, Masson appeared to have Francis damage.
Masson got here on sturdy within the third. He spun Francis off the ropes along with his superior power and blasted him to the physique. The stress from Masson continued and a left cross rocked Francis with a minute left to go within the spherical.
A proper hook from Masson surprised Francis with 30 seconds left to go on the clock. A sequence of brief photographs to the physique and head additional broken Francis, who tried in useless to struggle again however got here up brief.
“It’s beginning to get a bit one-sided. You wish to flip issues round, you’ve bought to be extra aggressive,” stated the referee between rounds.
Francis understood the message, however he was merely outclassed.
Urgent forward to begin the fourth, Francis willed his approach inside within the hope of breaking Masson’s tight protection. Masson saved taking half steps again to offer himself room to punch and landed brief, chopping photographs at mid-range.
By the one-minute mark, referee Austin took a very good, arduous take a look at Francis, who was on the unsuitable finish of an more and more one-sided beating.
It didn’t final for much longer.
Masson spun Francis round once more, strolling him on to a different handful of photographs, and referee Austin stepped in to cease the competition on the 1:25 mark.
“It was wonderful getting again within the ring, doing what I like. I simply loved it in there,” stated Masson. “I stated it might be a warfare clinic and though I used to be getting hit with photographs, I used to be making my photographs rely.
“Joshua is a tricky man and he got here to struggle arduous. I do know he put in lots of work and sacrifice, flying over to Australia, getting in rounds sparring over right here. That takes him away from his household, so all credit score to Josh. I understand how he feels, so my hat’s off to him.”
Masson, who was coming off elbow surgical procedure to appropriate ongoing points with bones in his arm, reaffirmed his ambition to win a world title.
“I wouldn’t be on this sport if I didn’t wish to make it to the highest,” he stated. “That’s my solely aim, and I’m going to get there.”
Australian-based boxing journalist Anthony Cocks has been overlaying the game for over 20 years for varied print and on-line publications. Observe him on X.
