Maselino Masoe: The first Samoan boxer to win a major world title

Maselino Masoe was the first Samoan boxer to win a major world title, but the opportunity almost never happened.

The 55-year-old sat down with Talei Anderson and Faivaeselopepe Anric Sitanilei to talk about the sacrifice and lessons he learnt going pro, and the moment it all came down to in 2004. 

Maselino Masoe was born in Apia in 1966. His father, uncles and older brother were all boxers, and it wasn't long before he followed suit.

"My father had a boxing club in his village and my uncles on my mum's side had their own boxing club as well, so I would represent my father's family and my older brother would represent my mother's family," he recalled. 

"I must have been 10 or 12 when I started to find [the sport] interesting and started to learn. I come from a big family. On my mum's side there's 15 [of us] and there's boys around the same age and we used to fight every Sunday...that's where they would look at me and be like 'oh Mase, you can fight'."

It wasn't long before word spread and his uncle from American Samoa flew him over during school holidays to compete in a tournament. It was one that would change his life forever. 

"The deal was if you win the fight you go to America, if you lose the fight you go back to Savai'i," he said.

"I ended up winning and I was crying because I wanted to go back to finish school because that was my last year...but we ended up going to America and that was the end of my schooling."

Masoe went to America and was stunned by the big buildings and bright lights. He started travelling more and got a taste of what life was like if he was to take boxing more seriously. 

He had over 80 bouts, winning both South Pacific and Oceania titles, and represented American Samoa at the Olympics on three separate occasions. 

During that time he married his wife, Matalena, and completed a three-year welding course on scholarship at San Bernadino College in California.

Masoe's amateur days were coming to an end and, with the newly-wed couple awaiting the birth of their first child, Maselino was ready to call his time in the ring.

"When I came back from the last Olympics in 1996, I threw my shoes in my bag and put it under the house and I got my welding helmet, my tools and said back to the starkies, back to my work," Masoe explained.

"I got a phone call from a very good friend, I call him a brother, this is from David Tua: 'Mase you want to come to New Zealand, and start your professional career from here...keep in touch with Kevin Barry and they'll sort it out and you can come.'" 

Masoe had already spent close to three years away from his family as an amateur boxer and he was moving again to turn pro.

At 30-years-old, Masoe started his professional career much later in the game.

It was 1997 when Masoe packed up and left his family for a new life in New Zealand. 

He had 20 fights under Kevin Barry and Martin Pugh, with a record of 18 wins and two losses between 1997 to 2000, before he called it quits.

The future he had hoped for was far from what he had envisioned. 

"When I came to New Zealand to fight under Kevin Barry and Martin Pugh, I went to America for another year and a half or two, I left my wife and daughter with a purpose to come back and buy a house for us," he said.

"Then a meeting with Kevin Barry and Martin one day, they gave me all the paperwork...it was all in red...and said 'Mase, you owe money' and then I said to myself ok, thank you very much, but I'll go think about it and come back." 

Masoe had no money to give.   

He cut ties with the pair and worked full-time with New Zealand Steel. 

But after two successful years as a professional boxer, he wasn't ready to hang up the gloves just yet. 

"I said to myself I still want to fight, I still got the goods to do the business."

Masoe spent thousands of dollars to sign with other promoters, and won every fight leading up to the one that mattered most; a shot at the WBA world middleweight title.

He was 37-years-old and almost unknown to the professional boxing audience and would take on Kenyan boxer Evans Ashira who was undefeated and a multi-weight world title challenger.

But that didn't mean anything to the South Auckland welder, who felt he had something to prove to the world.

"The Kiwi people they are still racist because every time I jump in the ring, people would say 'Mase you're not supposed to get it, you're not supposed to get there'. I heard it a lot and I said to myself okay, I'm not going to say anything but I'm going to fight."

"So I trained hard in Brisbane, left my family in New Zealand, did all the hard work and I went into this fight with confidence. I was going to win that's all I wanted to do. I was in good shape and I prepared well for that fight." 

On 1 May in Florida in 2004, Masoe sent the number five ranked WBA fighter to the ground within two rounds. The referee stopped the fight 44 seconds into the second round, before he was announced as the new WBA world middleweight champion.

An emotional Masoe said he gave thanks to God. 

"The first thing that jumped in my mind [when the referee stopped the fight], I thanked God for what he had done for me. Even after all these years...I cry, I cry all the time leaving my family behind."

Back in New Zealand, Matalena was also getting ready to undergo surgery to correct a spinal problem. 

"Not just that, my father had the Parkinson's disease and my family there was a lot of of hurt especially with (Kevin) Barry and what he did to me and my young family those days."

Masoe went on to have a handful of fights before retiring in 2011.  

He had another five children with Matalena and to this day he's still working full-time at New Zealand Steel after 20 years of service. 

Masoe helped his fair share of young Pasifika talent in New Zealand come through the ranks, including New Zealand Samoan heavyweight Joseph Parker, but looking back he said it was not not a career he would encourage. 

He said boxing comes with a lot of sacrifice, and more losses than wins.

"This is the thing I tried to help the younger fighters of the Pacific... because I tried to do my best even with another Samoan promoter here, but they just use up the fighters, they just use them. I don't want the new fighters of the islands - Samoa, Tonga - to come through because it's not a good thing."

"That's my advice because even my kids, especially my daughter, they want to get in the ring but I said no, dad is the only one, let me do it - so that's it, no more. So I encourage them to do better and do good at school, not in the ring because it's hurt, it's hurt."