From scaffolding site to world title tilt in two years

On October 3, 2024, 6:31 PM

Cruiserweight Jack Massey was at the top of a scaffolding site when he took the phone call that changed the trajectory of his life.

He had the offer to fight former world champion Joseph Parker and, despite having never fought at heavyweight, he took the opportunity with both hands.

Parker won the competitive 10-rounder but Massey, whose only other defeat came against fellow Briton Richard Riakporhe, gave a strong account of himself.

The result fired Massey back into contention at his natural weight of cruiserweight, and on 12 October the Chapel-en-le-Frith fighter will be in Saudi Arabia to tackle Australian Jai Opetaia for the IBF cruiserweight world title.

However, the picture was very different in 2022 for Massey. He was going through contract issues with a promoter and, with no fights being made, Massey ended up on a scaffolding site.

“I had to come out of the gym and get working because I’ve got a family to pay for,” he said.

“My brother helped me out with his boss, got me a job on the scaffolding site and that just kept me ticking over, but it gave me that push, as in ‘I don’t want to be back doing this. I want to get back to boxing, really push on and make something of it’.”

In the same year Massey and his partner suffered two miscarriages and the fighter admits he nearly quit the sport altogether.

“I was very close, to be honest. It was probably one of the toughest years of mine and my partner’s lives,” he said.

“It was a rough one, but we just had to be there for each other and stay positive, and this year alone has shown that you never know what’s around the corner.”

Massey took the Parker opportunity when it emerged and then upset the odds earlier this year when he beat fellow Englishman Isaac Chamberlain by unanimous decision to pick up the Commonwealth and European cruiserweight titles.

‘I’ve had to borrow boots, shorts, kits before fights’

Massey has had a whirlwind 2024.

In January he brutally stopped Steve Ntere in the first round before stepping in to beat Chamberlain.

Before the turn of the year his daughter Bonnie was born and Massey got married.

The 31-year-old will once again be the unfancied fighter when he takes on Opetaia, who is 25-0.

This world title shot was unexpected and there were initial doubts over whether the IBF would sanction the contest, considering Massey was not even in the top 10 of the federation’s rankings. But the IBF decided to grant an exception.

Massey relishes being the underdog.

“I quite like it. I’ve always been that underdog guy, from my amateur days. I’ve had to borrow boots, shorts and fight kit,” he said.

“I know I’ve got a very tough night ahead of me, he’s the top guy in the cruiserweight division, but I believe I can get in there, beat him, give it my all and leave everything in there.”

Massey said it did not sink in just how far he had come until he was at the launch news conference, with undefeated world champion Dmitry Bivol sitting over his left shoulder.

“It is huge,” he said about the magnitude of the event he is part of.

The fight will be the biggest pay day of Massey’s career to date, but his focus remains on the IBF belt.

“We are looking to secure this world title and that is when it becomes really, really life-changing,” Massey said.

“That is what I have dreamed of since being a little boy, since starting at the age of 11.”

The fight will take place on the undercard of the undisputed light-heavyweight world title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Bivol.

On a fight programme which features the rematch between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke, British featherweight Raven Chapman also has a world title shot as she takes on Australian Skye Nicolson.