Abdullah Mason left the last round to save his night, and saved it emphatically. The unbeaten Cleveland fighter kept his WBO lightweight title on Saturday by stopping fellow unbeaten Albert Bell in the 12th round, a finish that was as sudden as it was contested.
A late surge
Mason had been made to work for much of the fight, but he found his opening in the final three minutes. He dropped Bell with a straight left hand, then, moments later, sent him down a second time with a left hook in close, Yahoo Sports reported. The referee stopped the fight at 45 seconds of the 12th, waving it off after the second knockdown without administering a count.
The victory moved Mason to 21-0, with 18 knockouts, while Bell suffered the first loss of his career to fall to 28-1, according to fight-night results. The bout was held at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University, giving Mason a title defense in front of a home crowd.
Why it was disputed
The ending did not sit well with Bell or with some watching. Because the referee ended the fight immediately after the second knockdown, rather than giving Bell a count and the chance to show he could continue, Bell objected that the stoppage came too soon. Boxing stoppages of that kind are a matter of referee judgment, weighing a fighter's safety against his right to fight on, and they are often argued over afterward.
Mason, for his part, pointed to a late adjustment, saying he had gone to the head after spending much of the fight working the body. Whatever the debate over its final seconds, the result stands: Mason keeps the belt and his unbeaten record.
What's next
At 21-0 and still early in his championship run, Mason remains one of the more promising young titleholders in the lightweight division, even if Saturday showed he can be tested. Bell, unbeaten until now, is likely to seek a rematch or argue he deserves another significant fight given how the night ended. For one round, at least, Mason removed any doubt.
