Jack Massey has spent the past year in sadly familiar circumstances.

Despite his best efforts, the 32-year-old cruiserweight has become a veteran of playing the waiting game.

In January 2023 and unable to find anybody willing to fight him at 200 pounds, Massey (22-3, 12 KOs) took a risk and accepted a dangerous heavyweight assignment against former WBO champion, Joseph Parker.

Figuring that a win would change his life but a creditable performance would make his name, Massey put his all in to the 10-round fight. He came out with a decision defeat but an enhanced reputation.

Rather than making him a major player back down at 200 pounds, Massey’s solid performance seemed to scare his cruiserweight rivals even further away and he spent twelve months out of the ring looking for a fight.

In 2024, the tide turned. After starting the year with a first round blow out of Steve Ntere, he outpointed Isaac Chamberlain to win the European title. That victory earned him a trip to Saudi Arabia and a shot at Jai Opetaia’s Ring and IBF titles.

Massey gave a game effort but the excellent Australian was just too good and retained his title with a sixth round stoppage.

Massey has again found it impossible to capitalise on a profile boost and has spent another frustrating year on the outside looking in.

Finally, he has a date.

On November 29, Massey will box Argentina’s Ivan Gabriel Garcia (10-4-1, 10 KOs) over eight rounds. The fight will form part of Boxxer’s first show of their new broadcast deal with the BBC.

Garcia may not be the type of name Massey wanted but at least he finally has an opponent to focus on.

“It's been nearly a year since that fight over in Saudi,” Massey told The Ring.

“We’ve just been waiting for an eight round comeback fight and then back to it, some sort of title after that.

"At the age I am right now, you don't want to be out of the ring. Honestly, I've been in the gym since the New Year just training. Literally, just training. We've been chasing a carrot. I've just had to stay on it. It's almost like I have been getting fight dates, it's just not materialised.

“It's been stressful.”

For a long time, a fight between Massey and his promotional stablemate at Boxxer Chris Billam-Smith (21-2, 13 KOs) seemed an inevitability.

The two boxed as amateurs - Massey beat Billam-Smith in the final of the prestigious 2013 ABA tournament - but their paths have yet to cross as professionals.

Former WBO world champion, Billam-Smith, has achieved everything he set out to and more and is now focused on securing a comfortable future for he and his family.

The Bournemouth man remains the WBO’s No. 1 contender and was recently nominated to fight Germany’s Roman Fress for the interim title.

SES Promotions were the only party to submit a purse bid and won the right to stage the fight by bidding $156,921. Clearly in search of a more lucrative optiont, Billam-Smith failed to notify the governing body of his participation in the bout by their deadline.

Massey still has lots to achieve and although he would leap at the chance to get involved in what would still be a major domestic clash, he has a young family of his own and understands Billam-Smith’s reasoning. He knows that his name alone won’t draw Billam-Smith into the ring.

“I can understand it. Obviously, it's a sort of like, what's in it for him?” Massey said.

“He's been a world champion, I boxed for a world title. If we made the fight for a world title eliminator, then it makes sense. I think what he's trying to do is go straight for a world title again. We'll just have to see what happens.

“Get this fight out the way and then push for it.”