Abdullah Mason retained his WBO lightweight title against Albert Bell, but it did not come easily.
Bell, a short-notice opponent, gave the 22-year-old Mason (23-0, 18 KO) some fits in the first half of the fight, but the youngster stayed patient, chipped away, and may have even broken Bell’s nose. By the eighth round or so, Bell (28-1, 9 KO) was looking much the worse for wear, and like he just didn’t have much left in the tank.
The veteran kept trying to drag it out, though, until Mason shot out of
the corner like a man possessed to start the 12th and final round, scoring a quick knockdown. Bell was down a second time not much later, and referee Mark Nelson stopped the fight, which drew a lot of very dramatic, screaming criticism from the DAZN/TNT crew, whose job, it seems, is increasingly to pretend they’ve never seen boxing before.
The stoppage was questionable, but Bell was also looking completely finished.
Mason vs Bell score card: Who was ahead?
For what it’s worth, Bad Left Hook unofficially had the fight scored 105-104 in Mason’s favor at that point, after scoring the first half of the fight 59-55 for Bell. Mason had been on a roll since then, the second half was a pretty dominant showing for the young titleholder.
“I felt great, we had a game plan,” Mason said after. “I was kind of shy to go upstairs most of the fight, I wanted to get him out of there to the body. They told me late that I was down on the cards when I wasn’t, and I just went upstairs, and that’s how we got him out of there.”
Mason also gave Bell his credit, saying, “He’s a great opponent, he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, he uses his reach well. I knew it was going to be a great fight, I just had to take my time. … He’s got the skills to become a world champion, but I wasn’t going to let it happen on my watch.”
Mason did not make any direct call-outs, other than to say that anybody who wants to fight him can “come get it.”
Should the fight have been stopped?
Here’s the first and second knockdowns, the latter of which caused the stoppage. Did Mark Nelson make the right call or not?
