Abdullah Mason will face Albert Bell in a lightweight title main event on Saturday, July 4, 2026, from Cleveland.
It’s the first main event in the new “The Fight” series that will air on TNT as well as streaming on DAZN. Hopefully, the monthly series will pay off, though the early set main events aren’t exactly marquee blockbusters, but then those cost bigger money so they go behind proper paywalls. And on and on we go.
At any rate, let’s take a look at Mason vs Bell.
Mason vs Bell: Recent Form
by Scott Christ
Some matchups are
easier to really dig into than others. Last week, we had Zayas vs Boots, two guys who have been seen plenty on TV in recent years, in fights of some note, mostly world title fights.
Here, we have Abdullah Mason, a 22-year-old lightweight who, while he is the defending WBC champion, is still more prospect than finished product. The expectation is that he will continue to get better for some years ahead. Top Rank see a lot in him, and when you watch him fight, they should.
Mason (20-0, 17 KO) has the sort of obvious, standout qualities that are easy for a promoter or a fan to dream on. Bruce Carrington, who also fights Saturday, doesn’t have this sort of thing. This is not meant to be “Shu Shu” catching strays here; he’s a good fighter, and like Mason, he has a world title now. But Carrington is 29, not 22. The road ahead of him is just shorter. The years where he might get significantly better than he is right now are far fewer.
Carrington, while good, doesn’t really jump off the screen the way Mason does. Mason has power, speed, a sort of flair, and has already given us a really good fight against Sam Noakes, which netted him the WBC title and told us that he can handle a fight that tests his mettle. Mason impresses when you watch him, in the way that you can believe, truly, that you’re seeing a young star hitting his stride.
Bell (28-0, 9 KO) was once on the Top Rank roster, too. And he hasn’t been since 2021. No other power promoter rushed in to sign him. Maybe it’s more complicated than that behind the scenes; for all I know, Albert Bell is “hard to work with” or “demands too much” or whatever else. Not really my concern. But for almost five full years now, he’s been fighting so-so opponents on small cards in his hometown of Toledo, with a couple Georgia dates mixed in. He’s here because an opponent was needed to keep the card on when Joe Cordina fell out.
But he’s also got the potential to be tricky, especially because it’s short notice. Bell really doesn’t jump off your screen when you watch him, but fighters have made pretty good careers out of being sound, not making too many mistakes, and utilizing the gifts they were given in their genetics. He’s a six-foot tall lightweight and he tries to make the most out of the standard advantage that can give him.
Mason vs Bell: Style Matchup
by Patrick Stumberg
Considering his lack of a noteworthy promoter since splitting from Top Rank and the low-level nature of the shows he’s fought on, it’s not surprising that Bell is desperately short on publicly available footage from the last three years, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying.
What’s out there shows, well, a Tall Guy™. He’s got Tall Guy strengths (good straight punches, decent footwork, a willingness to tie up if opponents get inside) and Tall Guy weaknesses (upright chin, tendency to bring his hands back low). He doesn’t strike me as a true dark horse or the division’s best-kept secret, but there’s nothing wrong with “just” having solid gifts and the skill to utilize them.
Unless you count the fact that nobody wants to fight you, of course.
For me, the biggest thing he’s poised to test is Mason’s maturity. Mason has considerable edges in power and speed, not to mention a rare reach advantage over Bell despite standing three inches shorter. Bell’s size makes him tricky to deal with, but he’s not so strikingly adept at using it that it can overcome Mason’s own gifts, at least if the latter keeps his head on straight.
The Noakes fight showed us that Mason can knuckle down and hold his own in a physically taxing battle; this will tell us how well he deals with frustration. Even with his own foibles, such as his subscription to the Jaron Ennis School of Shoulder Rolling Without Actually Using Your Shoulder, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Mason vs Bell Predictions: Who will win?
Scott Christ: The only thing that worries me at all here, if I’m looking at the fight from the Mason side, is the late notice. He’s a different sort of foe to prepare for than Joe Cordina, and Bell has the spoiler qualities that can really spike when you haven’t spent a full camp preparing to deal with them.
But talent tends to show below the very top level, and I don’t think Bell is secretly very top level. He’s 33 years old and even if, as Patrick said, we haven’t had much useful footage of him in years, I remember seeing him routinely
Patrick Stumberg: Much has been made, and with good reason, about the unique puzzle Bell poses. Dealing with a six-foot lightweight on two weeks’ notice is a lot to ask of anyone, much less a 22-year-old who’d been preparing for a 5’9”, capable-but-conventional foe in Joe Cordina.
Not enough has been said about the inverse, though. Bell hasn’t fought anyone of note since Andy Vences in 2019, and while that’s not from a lack of trying, he’s going from the likes of Josec Ruiz and Keith Hunter to a blazing-fast, eye-poppingly powerful southpaw.
It would be one thing if Mason was still facing similar levels of opposition, but with the Noakes crucible behind him, Bell’s missed his chance. Expect a few rounds of struggle from Mason before his body attack starts to pay off and tees up Bell’s chin for a violent finish. Abdullah Mason by TKO in Round 8
