A STEP TOWARD ALL THE WAY
was too young to compete in the 2020 Games and didn’t want to wait until 2024. Thus, he signed a professional contract with Top Rank in 2021 at the tender age of 17. He has dominated everyone placed in front of him since, including the one fight in which his mental strength was tested. He’s one of those rare fighters about whom one could legitimately ask, “Where’s his weakness?” He has natural gifts, including elite speed. He’s a skillful boxer, thanks in good part to a talented trainer – his father, Valiant Mason. His 89% knockout ratio speaks for itself. The kid can crack. And he appears to have the one ingredient that brings all of the above together: discipline. The first word Valiant Mason used when asked to describe his son was “focused.” Neither the elder Mason nor Abdullah’s Top Rank handlers see him losing that key to success. “He’s well-grounded,” said Top Rank matchmaker Brad Goodman. “The father is an exceptional dad; he keeps all the brothers well-grounded. They’re
respectful. And they take no shortcuts. They treat boxing as the main thing in their lives. “… The only thing I worry about a little is burnout, somebody at that age fighting consistently. It’s not like he’s going to fight five, six times a year, though. So he’ll be OK.” The fight in which Mason had his mettle tested came last November, when he squared off with Dominican veteran Yohan Vasquez on the Keyshawn Davis-Gustavo Lemos card in Norfolk, Virginia. The rising young star ended up on his pants twice in the opening round, the result of clean left hooks. Mason didn’t appear to be hurt either time, but everyone watching had to be thinking the same thing at that moment: “Is Mason just another hot prospect about to go down in flames?” He responded to that notion with his actions, putting Vasquez on the canvas between his own knockdowns and stopping him the following round. The kid, perhaps mature beyond his years, didn’t panic for a moment. He just got back to work and got the job done,
learning a valuable lesson in the process: His right hand needs to stay up. “It was a turning point in my career,” Mason said. “I think it took me to the next level. A lot of young fighters don’t know how they’ll react when something like that happens. My reaction, how things turned out, were all because of my preparation, my conditioning, my training. “I stayed composed in there. That’s something I know I’ve had, but that gave me a higher level of confidence. I know I can get out of any situation.” Or, as his father put it: “I think he gets it. He realizes now that it’s not every fight that you eat your meal in one bite. That was a big step.” Goodman agrees. “I wasn’t worried one bit, even when he went down,” he said. “They were stupid mistakes. He knew what he did wrong, being dropped twice by the same
A family affair: Mason pictured alongside his siblings and his father, Valiant.
ABDULLAH MASON HAD A ROUGH NIGHT IN THE RING LAST YEAR, BUT IN PUSHING THROUGH IT HE LEARNED HE HAS THE STUFF OF CHAMPIONS By Michael Rosenthal
the vacant WBO lightweight title on the highly anticipated Ring IV card. Of course, Mason, whose body has yet to fill out, isn’t likely to stay in any single weight class for more than a decade. Mason (19-0, 17 KOs) walked into a neighborhood gym in Cleveland when he was 9 years old and, like his four boxing brothers, he never left. And from the moment he first exchanged punches with a sparring partner, the now-5-foot-9 southpaw knew this was what he was born to do, much to the consternation of his opponents over the years. He was a reported 65-15 and a national junior champion as an amateur. That kind of success might’ve been a path to the Olympics. However, he
A bdullah Mason doesn’t want to get ahead of himself. The boxing world – and fans around the globe – are excited about the immense potential of the 21-year-old lightweight contender from Cleveland. He’s excited, too. However, when he was asked what he thinks he can accomplish in the sport long-term, he responded with what sounded like a mantra: “Just one thing at a time.” A moment later, though, he answered the question in a different way.
“I have a fun fact for you,” he told The Ring. “Do you know who Johnny Kilbane was? He was a fighter from Cleveland. He’s in the Hall of Fame. And on the list of longest world title reigns [in one division] he’s No. 2, after Joe Louis, more than 11 years. “I like the idea of becoming world champion and breaking the record of longest reign by a fighter from Cleveland.” He’ll get a chance to begin his own reign on November 22 in Riyadh, where he’s scheduled to face Sam Noakes for
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ILLUSTRATION BY BUTCHER BILLY
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