Mason vs Bell headlines light July 4 boxing schedule
Abdullah Mason will make his first title defense against Albert Bell on July 4 in Cleveland, headlining the inaugural "The Fight" series on TNT and DAZN, according to Bad Left Hook. The lightweight showdown caps a light holiday week on the boxing calendar that also features Zuffa Boxing's return to Las Vegas on Sunday.
Bell stepped in on short notice after originally preparing for a bout with Andy Cruz, moving his expected fight date up two weeks. The Toledo native now gets a shot at upsetting one of Top Rank's brightest young talents in what shapes up as a tricky assignment for Mason. Bad Left Hook's Scott Christ noted Bell "is a spoiler, and not the kind of guy you'd ever want to face on short notice."
What to watch on Zuffa Boxing 8
Sunday's Zuffa card at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas features a lightweight rematch between Edwin De Los Santos and Jose Valenzuela, streaming on Paramount+ at 9 p.m. ET. The pair first met in 2022 when De Los Santos stopped Valenzuela in the third round of a wild fight that saw both men hit the canvas and De Los Santos lose a point for hitting his opponent while down.
The undercard reportedly includes a welterweight clash between Cain Sandoval and Brandun Lee, the latter returning after fighting just twice in the past three years. Former flyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">super flyweight titlist Jerwin Ancajas faces Omar Trinidad at featherweight, moving up three divisions from his championship weight. Prelims begin at 6 p.m. ET with unbeaten bantamweight Floyd Diaz topping the early portion against Jose Teran.
On the July 4 undercard in Cleveland, featherweight Bruce Carrington makes his first WBC title defense against Rene Palacios after winning the belt in January. Welterweight Tiger Johnson meets Canada's Christopher Guerrero in what Bad Left Hook described as looking "like a good ShoBox main event from years past." Mason's younger brothers Ibrahim and Abudrrahman are also scheduled to fight on the DAZN-exclusive prelims.
Photo: DAZN Boxing / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Original reporting:
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