Jack massey pumped for ibo title clash with bilal laggoune

Fight Academy’s Jack Massey has the chance of a lifetime on 26 November when he faces Bilal Laggoune for the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) world cruiserweight title, at the Bolton White Hotel – live on Fightzone.

It’s a huge opportunity for both men. The IBO version of the world title has previously been held by top fighters including Antonia Tarver, Tommy Hearns, James Toney, Mairis Briedis and Marco Huck – and the winner could be entered into even bigger unification fights in the future.

Massey has lost just once in 19 fights – a controversial British Title defeat to highly-rated Londoner Richard Riakporhe in 2019. Since then, ‘One Smack’ Jack has completed a winning double, including winning the International Boxing Federation (IBF) European title in his last fight in July.

Laggoune represents the Brit’s biggest challenge yet. The same age as Massey at 28, Laggoune has fought ten more times than his counterpart – with just two upsets in 29 rounds – and has fought well against well-mannered men. The Belgian also has heavy hands, having knocked out 14 men in his corner, and is coming off a controversial ‘away’ decision loss to European Title favourite Tommy McCarthy last October.

Massey knows this is a fantastic opportunity presented by his Fight Academy promotion team, with a win meaning he will surpass his domestic rivals on the world stage.

“I’ve had a look at him and he’s a very good opponent. I saw him beat McCarthy and the decision was a bit of a ‘hit and miss’, it was very close. He’s a great opponent and this can only be a good fight.

“He’s definitely the best I’ve faced to date, but with a world title on the line, I’m training harder than ever and I believe I can go out and do a good job of it. This is why I box and I intend to make a big statement.

“It’s great to win the IBO belt. When you look at the people who have held [a version of] it for years like Anthony Joshua, Usyk just won it from Joshua, Klitschko, Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather – the list goes on forever. All the big names in different weight classes have fought for it and it’s a great title to have.

“It would be huge to win it; it would open some big doors and could lead to unification fights against some big names. It’s going to be a great night, headline Fightzone, we’re going to sell out and the atmosphere is going to be fantastic.”

The main support sees Britain’s Mark Jeffers and Belgium’s Michel Garcia fight for the vacant WBO global super middleweight title, and Scotland’s Nathaniel Collins defends his Commonwealth featherweight title against South Africa’s Thembani Mbangatha.

Also appearing on the undercard are London’s Harry Mullins; Ashton’s Zak Miller under Lyne; Manchester’s Josh Holmes and Billy Deniz; Bolton’s Khaleel Madjid and Salford’s Jake Andrews.