Mason returns home for first defense as former champion Cordina moves up for WBO lightweight title fight
Abdullah Mason will defend his WBO lightweight title against Joe Cordina on July 4 in Cleveland, headlining a DAZN card at Rocket Arena. The bout puts a young champion in with a former titleholder moving up in weight for his first shot at 135 pounds.
Mason, 22, won the belt in November with a high-tempo victory over Sam Noakes and now returns home for his first defense. The Cleveland native has been moved quickly, and this booking continues that trend with a recognizable opponent brought in early in his reign.
Cordina (19-1, 9 KOs), 34, enters on a two-fight win streak since losing his IBF super featherweight title to Anthony Cacace by eighth-round knockout in May 2024. Since moving up to 135 pounds in 2025, he has beaten Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz and Gabriel Flores Jr.,
Cordina’s #1 spot with the WBO is generous, especially when you look at how he’s performed since the Cacace disaster.
The reality is that Cordina hasn’t looked like the same guy who knocked out Ogawa. The Cacace fight seemed to take a bit of his invincibility away. Scrapping past Gabriel Flores Jr. in a fight that was way too close for comfort isn’t usually the resume of a top-tier contender.
By beating Cordina, Mason adds a former world champion to his record, which looks great on a poster, even if that former champion is moving up in weight and potentially past his prime.
If Cordina struggled with the physicality of Flores, Mason is going to be a nightmare. Mason overwhelms people with a pace and precision that Cordina hasn’t seen since the super featherweight days, and arguably not even then.
It’s hard to see this as anything other than a step-up fight that is actually a step-down in terms of actual risk for the champion, Mason. Cordina has the technical skills to survive for a bit, but he’s fighting a natural lightweight who is faster, younger, and hitting much harder than the guys Cordina has been treading water with lately.
From a business standpoint, the matchup has clear appeal. Cordina is promoted by Eddie Hearn and remains a known name in the UK market, giving the event added reach beyond Mason’s home base.