Mason Retains WBO Lightweight Title With Controversial Stoppage

Abdullah Mason is still undefeated, still WBO lightweight champion, and still only 22 years old.

Mason retained his title against short-notice replacement Albert Bell, finishing him in the twelfth. The early going belonged to Bell. The veteran used his reach, kept Mason at distance, and was competitive enough through the first six rounds. Mason was patient, worked the body, and appeared to break Bell's nose at some point in the middle rounds — a detail that coloured everything that came after.

By the eighth, Bell was visibly deteriorating. The nose, the accumulation of body shots, the youth and energy of the man across from him — it was all catching up. He kept trying to drag it to the final bell, which was itself a form of courage, but the gap was widening with every round.

When the twelfth started, Mason came out of his corner in an entirely different gear. A quick knockdown. A second knockdown shortly after. Referee Mark Nelson waved it off.

Bell was down twice in the final round of a fight he was losing. Nelson saw enough. Whether the stoppage was a round early is a legitimate debate; whether it was controversial in any meaningful sense is harder to argue.

Mason's corner had apparently told him — incorrectly, as it turned out — that he was behind on the cards. He responded by going upstairs and forcing the finish. The decision to plant that seed, accurate or not, produced the defining sequence of the night.

"I felt great, we had a game plan. 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.

"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