Abdullah Mason (21-0, 18 KOs) defended his WBO light-weight title with a Twelfth-round TKO of Albert Bell (28-1, 9 KOs) on Saturday night time at Cleveland State College’s Wolstein Heart, closing out a troublesome battle with two knockdowns within the remaining spherical.
Bell, a Toledo native, stepped in as a late alternative after Joe Cordina withdrew from the bout as a consequence of a visa challenge. The matchup marked the primary world title battle held in Cleveland since 2006, drawing a crowd of 10,101 that included Mason’s hometown supporters.
Mason opened the battle working behind left and proper palms to the physique, however Bell countered successfully by means of the early rounds. A conflict of heads within the second spherical opened a reduce above Mason’s left eye. Mason elevated his output by means of the center rounds, mixing jabs with straight left palms earlier than turning his consideration to Bell’s physique within the ninth spherical.
With the battle shut on the scorecards coming into the ultimate spherical, Mason got here ahead on the opening bell and scored a knockdown. Bell beat the rely, however a second knockdown prompted referee Marc Nelson to cease the competition at 45 seconds of the Twelfth spherical.
“I really feel nice. We had a recreation plan. We had been going to work the physique,” Mason stated. “Then they advised me I used to be behind on the playing cards, so I stepped it up and completed the battle.”
“He’s an excellent opponent. I knew it was going to be an excellent battle. I simply needed to take my time,” Mason stated. “I need to thank him for stepping in. And thanks, Cleveland.”
Carrington Retains Featherweight Title
Within the co-feature, Brooklyn’s Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (18-0, 10 KOs) retained his WBC featherweight title with a unanimous resolution over Mexico’s Rene Palacios (19-1-1, 10 KOs). Carrington labored from a shoulder-roll stance for a lot of the battle, utilizing hand pace to outland Palacios in most exchanges. Palacios discovered his most vital second within the eleventh spherical with a physique shot that harm Carrington, who regained composure behind his footwork to shut out the battle.
Scores had been 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110, all in favor of Carrington.
“These are the fights that I’ve been wanting,” Carrington stated. “There have been some powerful moments, together with the physique shot, but it surely’s a part of the sport. I need to unify. I need to battle one of the best of the division, and that’s whoever the champions are.”
Undercard Outcomes
Cleveland’s Delante “Tiger” Johnson (18-0, 8 KOs) used a constant jab to manage Christopher Guerrero (16-1, 9 KOs) over 10 rounds, profitable by scores of 100-92 and 99-91 twice.
“Thanks to Cleveland for popping out,” Johnson stated. “I hadn’t fought right here in 10 years. It was a really arduous camp. It means every part to battle right here. Lots of people don’t know the place I come from. I needed to overcome plenty of adversity. Inform Devin Haney to return see me.”
In different undercard motion, Deric “Scooter” Davis (12-0, 10 KOs) gained an eight-round unanimous resolution over Carlos Ramos (18-5-1, 10 KOs) by scores of 77-75 and 78-74 twice. Ibrahim Mason (3-0, 3 KOs) stopped Erik Hanley (1-3, 1 KO) at 1:59 of the second spherical in an excellent featherweight bout, and Abdurrahman Mason (3-0, 2 KOs) defeated Alvaro Huizar Cabral (1-1) by four-round unanimous resolution, with all three judges scoring the bout 40-36.
The cardboard streamed on DAZN and aired domestically on TNT.
