Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’ assistant coach, Kenny Ellis, says he rates Abdullah Mason (14-0, 12 KOs) as the #2 lightweight in the 135-lb division after watching him steamroll Luis Lebron (20-6-1, 13 KOs) by third-round knockout last Saturday night on ESPN at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Kenny Ellis views his fighter, Tank Davis, as #1 at lightweight and Abdullah Mason now as #2 in the division, which is impressive given his age. He’s only 20 years old, but he has the power, skills, and instinct to set him apart from the other lightweights in the division.
Kenny didn’t give a complete list of who he views as the top lightweights in the division, but we’re to assume he sees it like this:
- Gervonta Davis
- Abdullah Mason
- Shakur Stevenson
It’s difficult to place Shakur ahead of Vasily Lomachenko after last night’s performance aganist Harutyunyan. Had that been Lomachenko, he would have embarrassed Harutyunyan.
Ellis said that if WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson didn’t stop Artem Harutyunyan last Saturday night, he would place Mason as the #2 fighter at 135.
He said he believed Abdullah Mason would knock out Harutyunyan, and many fans agreed. Had Mason been inside the ring with Harutyunyan at least night, he would have knocked him out, likely within six rounds.
Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) struggled to defeat Harutyunyan by a twelve-round unanimous decision in a poor performance. Many of them booed the fight in the later rounds, with a bunch heading towards the exit, perhaps displeased with what they witnessed.
Buried on the undercard, Abdullah Mason knocked Lebron down twice in round two and then finished him off in the third round to get a knockout. Lebron has never been stopped before in his career, which made Mason’s feat more impressive.
“If Shakur don’t stop Artem, Abdullah Mason gets number 2 spot on my list as the second best lightweight,” said Coach Kenny Ellis on Instagram. “The kid is the real deal of the new generation. I believe Abdullah Mason will stop Artem.”
In the third, Lebon’s team pulled him out of the fight after a body shot by Mason hurt him. The time of the stoppage was at 1:18. It was an intelligent move by Lebron’s corner because he wasn’t going to make it out of the round. Mason was unloading on him at will with hard punches, and Lebron would get taken out regardless.
Lebron had been bleeding badly from round two, and he looked at his corner after being knocked down for the second.
Mason looks like a better fighter than WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson now, which promoters will note as the Newark native becomes a free agent. After how Shakur performed against Harutyunyan, showing no power and looking average while fighting aggressively, he’s not on the level of Abdullah Mason.
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