The highly hyped lightweight Abdullah Mason (16-0, 14 KOs) had to get off the deck twice in round one to come back to defeat Yohan Vasquez (26-5, 21 KO) by a second-round knockout in the undercard on Friday night at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.
(Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
The 20-year-old Mason got sloppy in round one and dropped with a powerful counter left hand from Vasquez. Mason was trying to land a big left of his own, and was wide open for the left counter. After that knockdown, Mason came back to knock Vasquez down with a perfectly placed left uppercut.
Mason then went for the kill but was caught by another left hook and put down. Luckily for Abdullah, that knockdown came in the final seconds of the round.
In the second round, Mason hurt Vasquez with a left hand in the opening seconds. Vasquez appeared to suffer a right leg injury with that punch and was limping afterward.
Mason took advantage of the injury by on the inside and knocking Vasquez to the canvas with a left to the body. Vasquez was too hurt to beat the count. The time of the stoppage was at 1:59 of round two.
Overall, it was a good performance by Mason, who showed an ability to stay calm despite being dropped twice. Many fighters would have come unglued mentally if they’d been put on the canvas the way Mason did. He stayed relaxed and continued to take the fight to Vasquez.
The fight was basically over in the opening seconds of round two when Mason hurt Vasquez with a left hand. Vasquez injured his left with that punch and he couldn’t generate any power on his shots from that point.
You’ve got to give Vasquez a lot of credit, too. He had Mason’s game all figured out and was landing his left hook when he’d throw. He’d obviously studied him well.
Even after Vasquez injured his left in round two, he came within inches of connecting with another left hand that might have put Mason down for a third time had it landed. Vasquez is an excellent puncher, and a lot better than many fans felt he was going into tonight’s contest.
Last Updated on 11/08/2024
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