Arum Compares WBO Champion Mason To Sugar Ray Leonard

Bob Arum has been in boxing long enough to know the difference between a good prospect and a generational one. He promoted Sugar Ray Leonard. He believes he may be doing it again.

The veteran Top Rank founder has compared WBO lightweight champion Abdullah Mason to Leonard, the Hall of Famer Arum helped guide through a career that included world titles across five weight classes and some of the sport's most celebrated fights. Arum was there when Leonard stopped Wilfred Benitez in the fifteenth round in 1979 to win his first world title, and there through the defeats and comebacks that followed. He knows what a complete fighter looks like in development. He thinks Mason is one.

"It looks like he'll be one of the major stars in boxing," Arum told FightHype. "He's so young — he's won a world title, but I think the sky's the limit. If he continues on the trajectory he's on, he can be the next Sugar Ray Leonard,” Arum

Arum's confidence in Mason extends beyond boxing ability. The promotional business has seen enough talented fighters derailed by the life that surrounds the sport, and Arum addressed it directly.

"He comes from a very good family and he's a disciplined kid, so I'm not going to worry about him going off and doing some crazy stuff," Arum

Mason's Saturday night defence against Albert Bell — a short-notice replacement after Joe Cordina was denied a US visa following an assault charge — ended in a twelfth-round stoppage that drew controversy. He was behind early, adjusted, broke Bell down through the middle rounds, and finished the fight with two knockdowns in the final three minutes. It was not clean, but it was the work of a fighter who knows how to find a way.