Boxing: Masoe taking next step on road to US

By Peter Jessup

Auckland knockout king Maselino Masoe, KO'd himself by wire-haired Don King, has all Australian opposition running scared as he seeks to build credibility ahead of a shot at a career in the United States.

Masoe, 10-0 since turning pro in mid-1997 and nine of those won by knockout, was to have had a bout on the undercard of the Pernell Whittaker-Felix Trinidad fight a fortnight ago.

But King reneged on the deal and took Masoe's spot for one of his own stable, said manager Kevin Barry.

He still aims to take the 32-year-old Masoe to the United States this year and has challenged a number of Australian champions to front his hard-punching charge to prime him.

Barry has been turned down by middleweight titleholder Marc Bargero, junior middleweight champion Nader Hamdan and super-middleweight champ Paul Smallman - all Australian contenders. Only the Ghanian-born former Australian middleweight champ Emmanuel Otti did not back off.

The pair meet at Auckland's Downtown Convention Centre tonight on a card including fellow IBF belt-holders Sean Sullivan, who fights Allan Gibson for the vacant New Zealand junior middleweight title, and Sam Leuii, who meets Joseph Pulu in a light-heavyweight contest.

With 12 years and three Olympics behind him as an amateur and sparring experience with pros including Whittaker, Masoe is at his physical peak, Barry believes.

"If we can get him some exposure over there I believe he'll move quickly up the rankings [Masoe is 14th on the IBF list]," he said. "He's the sort of fighter who looks good on TV, he's got style and a great presence in the ring."

Leuii, with an IBF ranking of 13, will go to Japan for a bout with an as-yet unknown opponent on a world championship undercard on March 26.

Sullivan, 36-7, beat Gibson at welterweight in May 1995 but his opponent claimed he was weakened by the weight loss. He will also look for work in the United States later in the year.

Samoan Rico Chong Nee makes his pro debut against Peter Mokomoko, while Aucklander Daniella Smith meets Rotorua's Sophie-Lee Andrews in a women's bout.