Abdullah Mason retained his WBO lightweight title with a dramatic 12th-round stoppage of Albert Bell in Cleveland, Ohio. The champion, seemingly trailing on points, dropped Bell twice in the final round to secure the victory and preserve his undefeated professional record.
The contest proved far more difficult than anticipated for Mason. Bell, who accepted the fight on only 10 days’ notice, consistently outworked the champion through the early rounds. Mason began to find his range in the middle of the fight, drawing blood from Bell’s nose in the eighth and opening a cut over his eye in the tenth. Still, the outcome remained in doubt heading into the final three minutes. In the twelfth round, Mason dropped Bell with a left hand. Shortly after, a second trip to the canvas, which appeared to be aided by a push, prompted referee Mark Nelson to halt the contest, a decision some observers felt was premature. With the win, Mason improves to 21-0.
In the co-main event, Bruce ‘Shu Shu’ Carrington defended his WBC featherweight title with a unanimous decision over Rene Palacios. Carrington controlled the first half of the bout with effective counter-punching. Palacios found success in the later rounds, appearing to drop Carrington in the eighth with a punch the referee did not count as a knockdown. He also hurt the champion with a body shot in the eleventh. Despite a strong finish from Palacios, Carrington’s early lead was enough to secure the win with scores of 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.
On the undercard, welterweight Delante ‘Tiger’ Johnson earned a clear unanimous decision against Christopher Guerrero. Johnson used his jab and superior boxing skills to control the 10-round contest, adding the WBC Continental Americas and IBF North American titles to his collection. Also on the card, lightweight Deric ‘Scooter’ Davis won a disputed eight-round decision over Carlos Ramos.
