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.
