Abdullah Mason, an unbeaten lightweight contender, says he’ll be ready to challenge for a world title next year at 135 against anyone in the division.
The 20-year-old unbeaten Mason (13-0, 11 KOs) fights this Saturday, July 6th, against Luis Lebron (20-5-1, 13 KOs) in an eight-round contest on the televised portion of the card on ESPN at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Mason is fighting on the undercard of WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson’s title defense against Artem Harutyunyan. Regarding entertainment value, Mason’s fight against Lebron should be more exciting for fans than the main event between Shakur and Harutyunyan.
Lebron has never been knocked out in his career, and it would say a lot about Mason’s talent if he could be the first to stop the Puerto Rican slugger on Saturday night.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum hasn’t said how long it’ll be before Mason is a headliner on his cards, but it should happen soon once he begins matching him against highly ranked contenders.
There’s a possibility that Mason will be avoided like Shakur is at lightweight but for a different reason. Fighters won’t want to fight Mason due to the high risk and low reward of facing the huge puncher.
“Yeah, for sure,” said Abdullah Mason to Fighthype when asked if he sees himself fighting five times in 2024. “I’m not sure [how long he can continue fighting this frequently]. Every time I step in there, the competition is stepping up as well.”
It would be interesting if Arum matched Mason against former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. to see how well he performs against him. Kambosos would be a good test for Mason and an excellent gauge of how he’s progressing.
“Some fighters you need a little more time to prepare for, but we’re making sure we’re busy, and we’re making sure we’re not lax or anything like that. So, we just focus,” said Mason.
“Hopefully next year,” said Mason when asked when he believes he’ll get a title shot at lightweight. “We’re taking our time, but we’re staying focused. We’re constantly growing and inching closer and closer. So, hopefully, sometime next year, we’ll be ready for that.”
Mason looks ready to take on Shakur for his WBC belt and spear him with his pinpoint shots. Shakur has been complaining about not getting anyone to fight him, but Mason will be ready to step up against the defensive artist.
“I believe they see what I see. I believe I’m the best out there coming up. So, I believe the people see what I see. If I am being slept on, I’m going to prove to the people. Anybody in my division is a potential opponent for me,” said Abdullah Mason.
No one is doubling Mason’s talent level in the division. But he won’t be on the fans’ radar until Top Rank matches him against better opposition and puts him in either the headliner or the co-feature instead of keeping him in the lower spots on their cards.
“We’re just focused and ready. There are no specific names I want to call out right now, but once you get to the top, you have to be ready for anybody. I’m inching my way up there, and once I get there, I’ll be ready for anybody,” said Mason.
“That’s his opinion. I see I’m a rising star out of Top Rank, and if that’s what he sees, that’s what he sees,” said Mason about Teofimo Lopez, saying he’s the last star for Top Rank.
WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez seemed rattled when he commented on viewing himself as the last star for Top Rank.
Teofimo had just struggled to beat fringe contender Steve Claggett in their fight on June 29th, and he wasn’t about to acknowledge the presence of the talented young contender like Abdullah Mason coming up the ranks.
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