Jack Massey has regrouped after a brave but unsuccessful bid to unseat IBF and Ring Magazine cruiserweight champion, Jai Opetaia last October, and is anxiously waiting to be given a date to launch another world title campaign.

The strong British cruiserweight division has changed over the past 18 months and Massey, 22-3 (12 KOs), has seen two notable domestic rivals officially depart the scene.

Former WBO champion, Lawrence Okolie collected the WBC belt at bridgerweight and then stepped up to heavyweight. A first round demolition of Hussein Muhamed last December made real waves and saw him quickly moved into the WBC’s number one spot.

After putting in a poor performance during his fight with then WBO cruiserweight champion, Chris Billam-Smith, last June, Richard Riakporhe had been hoping that stepping up to heavyweight and directly into a grudge match with Okolie would reignite his career.

Unfortunately for him, Okolie recently withdrew from their scheduled April 5th fight with an injury.

Massey, 31, knows exactly what it is like to share the ring with a world class heavyweight. In 2023 he accepted a fight with former WBO champion, Joseph Parker, and performed well before losing a ten round decision.

His performance has aged well. That win kickstarted the run of form that has carried Parker to the WBO interim title and seen him rise to number three in Ring Magazine’s heavyweight rankings.

Massey dropped back down to cruiserweight. Beating Isaac Chamberlain to become Commonwealth and European champion earned him his shot at Opetai.

Massey is a gym mate of Okolie at Manchester’s Champs Camp and lost a vacant British title fight to Riakporhe all the way back in 2019. There are few people more qualified to give their opinion on two potential rivals exiting the cruiserweight picture.

“From what I've heard off Okolie, from speaking to him, he was struggling at cruiserweight. He's big enough and he holds that weight well. He's big enough for that division,” Massey told The Ring.

“Obviously, he's not gone straight into heavyweight. He's tested himself at bridgerweight and then he's moved into the heavyweight scene so, I think he'll do all right.

“But you have got to look at the money sometimes and a lot of the time in the cruiserweight division, it's not there and it's definitely not there in the bridgerweight scene so if you can, then why not?”

If Okolie’s move came as little surprise, Massey did raise his eyebrows a little when he heard about Riakporhe stepping up to compete in boxing’s glamour division. Whereas Okolie’s move was something of a necessity, Massey believe’s that 35 year-old Riakporhe’s was more opportunistic.

“It shocked me to be honest because I don't see him struggling,” he said.

“I know he'll probably say he is struggling anyway, but I can't see that. I just think he's lost to Billam-Smith and I think he's just giving it one last push and trying to get a big fight, a big money fight, anyway, I reckon.”