Abdullah Mason (15-0, 13 KOs) will be battling Yohan Vasquez (26-5, 21 KOs) on November 8th in an eight-round fight on the undercard of Keyshawn Davis vs. Gustavo Lemos at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. The event will be shown live on ESPN+.
Mason’s Presence on the Card Puts Pressure on Keyshawn
Putting Mason on this card will pressure lightweight contender Keyshawn to raise his game because he’s looked increasingly worse with each step-up fight Top Rank has given him. Having Mason on this card will highlight the mistake Top Rank made by wasting their money signing Keyshawn out of the 2020 Olympics.
For this event, Top Rank has chosen not to bury the 20-year-old Mason’s fight as they’ve done in the past. Mason has continually outshined the main event in recent cards and has been the saving grace, especially for Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan headliner last July. Mason looked spectacular on that card, destroying Luis Lebron in three rounds.
Some fans on social media say Mason should be the one fighting Keyshawn (11-0, 7 KOs) in the headliner rather than the recently beaten Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs), who lost his last fight in April and doesn’t even fight at 135. It seems pretty obvious why Top Rank has selected a 140-pounder for Keyshawn.
If Lemos is weight-drained, Keyshawn will have the advantage he needs to win and will look great for casual fans. Ideally, Top Rank should show fans that Keyshawn is for real by agreeing to promoter Eddie Hearn’s offer to set up a fight between Keyshawn and 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz, who beat Davis four times in the amateurs.
World Title in Sight
The plan is for Mason, 5’9″, to continue to take step-up fights before challenging for a world title in 2025 against one of the world champions at lightweight. Top Rank isn’t saying who the champion will be, but it could be Shakur if he still holds the WBC title.
That’s unlikely due to the murderer’s row of fighters that Shakur’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has planned for him next year, fighting William Zepeda and Gervonta Davis. If the WBC title gets snatched up by Tank, Mason can forget about getting a shot against him because the Baltimore native will likely sit on the WBC title, focusing on other fighters that are better known.
Shakur’s new promoter, Eddie Hearn, likely won’t let him anywhere near a puncher like Abdullah Mason after the way the New Jersey performed against the knockout artists Edwin De Los Santos and Jeremiah Nakathilia. Shakur ran around as if his life depended on it in both fights, looking terrified. Hearn is trying to turn Shakur into a “global star,” and putting him in with Mason would be counterproductive.
Mason would be a nightmare for Keyshawn, who gets hit a lot and has already shown chin problems during his short career. Top Rank likely wants to keep Keyshawn and Abdullah Mason far apart to have separate revenue streams. But if Keyshawn is going to get beaten soon, and it sure looks that way, it might as well be Mason being the one doing it.
Lemos is a light welterweight who was chosen to drain down to 135 to face Keyshawn for some unknown reason. It doesn’t bode well for Lemos to have to take off additional weight to face Keyshawn at lightweight.
Other Notable Fights on the Card
- Also on the November 8th card is WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr., making his first defense against #7 Derrieck Cuevas in the co-feature. That should be an exciting fight for as long as it lasts.
- Middleweight Troy Isley (13-0, 5 KOs) battles Tyler Howard (20-1, 11 KOs) in a ten-round fight. If Howard has any pop in his punches, he can win this fight because Isley has already shown a weak chin, and he has no power whatsoever.
Two of boxing’s best young talents are headed to VA 🔥#KeyshawnLemos | FRI NOV 8 | @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/ioa0xkjvWk
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) September 4, 2024
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