Cleveland, Ohio – Abdullah Mason (21-0, 18 KOs) made the first title defense of his WBO lightweight title in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, against the experienced Albert Bell (28-1, 9 KOs).
Originally scheduled to face number one contender Joe Cordina, the fight was changed to Bell when Cordina was unable to obtain a travel visa. Albert himself had a fight lined up on July 18 against Andy Cruz, which was to serve as the co-main event on the Daniel Pacheco Immanuel Aleem card.
Bell’s team received the call to fight Mason, and they accepted. The fellow Ohioan from Toledo is friends with Abdullah and was very familiar with him, having had several sparring sessions with him in the past.
The familiarity between the fighters may have made the fight challenging for Abdullah, who struggled in the early rounds. Based on the official scorecards, he lost three of the first six rounds on Patrick Morley and Phil Rodgers’ scorecards, with Gerardo Martinez giving Bell the lead in four of those rounds.
Bell also outlanded Mason in five of the first six rounds, outlanding him 58 to 38 in total punches landed through round 6. In round seven, Abdullah made the necessary adjustments by increasing his output, attacking the body, and hurting Bell in exchanges, giving him a bloody nose.
It was here that it appeared to be the beginning of the end for Bell, who from this point forward decreased his activity and circled the ring to evade Mason’s offensive attack. His punches appeared not to carry the same power behind them as he began to slow down.
At the end of the eleventh round, one of Abdullah’s brothers told him he was losing the fight. Leading Mason to come out aggressively, jumping on Albert at the sound of the ring bell. Abdullah quickly dropped Bell seconds into the twelfth round, sending him to the canvas and jumping right back on him after beating the count, leading to a second knockdown, which prompted referee Mark Nelson to wave it off.
The stoppage was controversial, as many believed Nelson waved it off prematurely in a fight that was close on the judges’ scorecards. When asked about it after the fight, Mason believed it was the right call, as it was early in the round and he would have continued the onslaught and would have ended it either way if the fight continued.
The fight was much more challenging than expected for the 22-year-old Abdullah, who gained valuable experience from the match. The young champion was able to close the show in style for his hometown crowd who came out to support him.
Top Rank reported an impressive showing at the Wolstein Center with an attendance of 10,101 on a night where the Cleveland Guardians were playing the Chicago White Sox a few streets down. This may be the return of professional boxing to Ohio with the Mason brothers going 3-0 for the night.
Abdurrahman (3-0, 2 KOs) opened the prelims with a victory over Alvaro Huizar Cabral, and Ibrahim Mason (3-0, 3 KOs) followed with an impressive technical knockout victory, dropping Erik Hanley four times in the second round.
