What To Know
- In boxing’s return to Cleveland with Fourth of July linear TV exposure, Abdullah Mason won his homecoming fight with late heroics over Albert Bell.
- Bell started strong, appearing to win the first six rounds, though scorecards were closer. Mason turned up the heart and delivered the R12 TKO.
- The remaining fights weren’t thrillers, but the new production from TNT Sports was an engaging success.
Abdullah Mason Shows Grit in Late Stoppage Win
It took some time for the fuse to burn down and set off the fireworks on Saturday’s Fourth of July fight card from Cleveland. When it did, it lit up in a big way with Abdullah Mason scoring a comeback TKO win over a durable Albert Bell.
Mason (21-0, 18 KOs) successfully defended his WBO World Lightweight title against late replacement opponent and former sparring partner Albert Bell of Toledo (28-1, 9 KOs) in front of more than 10,000 fans at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center.
Successful Homecoming Pulled Out By Mason
Bell, who was a late replacement for original opponent Joe Cordina, took control of the first half of the fight, appearing to win round after round through the first six with patient boxing skills. He prevented Mason from finding him an easy target.
After the fight, Mason denied feeling he was behind on the scorecards, but his father and trainer, Valiant Mason, felt a much greater sense of urgency. He urged Mason to step on it and attack Bell’s body.
Mason flipped the switch, listened to his father, and successfully implemented the new plan. He began taking the steam out of Bell, winning rounds starting in the seventh round.
“I’m grateful to my team and to everybody who made it happen,” said Mason, who credited his corner for excellent guidance through the fight.
At the start of the last round, Mason ran straight at Bell, drilling him with a left hook that caused Bell to fall forward. He beat the count from Nelson.
Mason wasted no time coming back and unloading, sending Bell to the canvas a second time. Nelson waved off the fight without a count. It was seen as a premature stoppage by many observers. Mason had two more minutes in the round to work with; the outcome was inevitable.
The twelfth round demolition from ringside 🍿 pic.twitter.com/mQ3p4MYHeI
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) July 5, 2026
“I’d seen that he was hurt, I knew to step on it. I had to make it happen,” said Mason of the late heroics. At the time of the stoppage, Mason was ahead on all three scorecards: 106-103, and 107-102 twice. It was a wider margin in those first six rounds than observers believed.
Abdullah Mason was up on all of the official scorecards at the time of the stoppage: 106-103, 107-102, 107-102.
Later, Mason said his early approach was to avoid giving Bell familiar looks from their early sparring together. “I knew I had to stay comfortable and patient and not show him anything he would see coming.” Mason said he intended to lure Bell in, and “explode on him.”
Albert Bell: Broken Nose Slowed Him Down
Bell revealed after the fight that Mason damaged and likely broke his nose in the seventh round. He said he couldn’t breathe. It affected his performance for the second half of the fight, and he did what he could to hold on.
Of the knockdowns, Bell explained, “He buzzed me with the first one. The second one was just more of an aftereffect.” Bell felt the stoppage by referee Mark Nelson came too quickly. “I mean, let me finish. It’s the 12th round. It was a hard fight. Let me go on my shield if that’s the case. Don’t save me.”
Boxing’s youngest champion still has a lot to learn. What Mason already has is tremendous grit. He didn’t panic as Bell drew ahead. When his first approach didn’t work, he changed things up and did whatever it took to win.
The rest of the card lacked the big thrills of the main event.
Bruce Carrington Defends Title in Co-Main
In the co-feature, WBC World Featherweight champion Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington of Brownsville, NY (18-0, 10 KOs) left with a decision win in his first title defense against Rene Palacios of Mexico (19-1-1, 10 KOs), but the pedestrian performance left a lot of questions hanging.
Scores in the decision win were 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112. Palacios worked Carrington to the body with some success, and had him hurt at one point, forcing him to hold on.
“Body shots are always one of the worst shots in boxing. But my mentality, I’ve just got to fight on. I got that winning mentality, so I couldn’t let him get too much of an advantage, and I just kept going to finish the fight,” said Carrington.
While Carrington seemed content to edge enough rounds to win, he could have used a little of Mason’s grit to make things more exciting for the Cleveland fans.
Tiger Johnson Enjoys His Homecoming Return
Welterweight prospect Tiger Johnson of Cleveland (18-0, 8 KOs) took Christopher Guerrero of Montreal (16-1, 9 KOs) to school for ten rounds, delighting his hometown fans with a near-shutout decision win over a top 20 opponent. Scores were 100-90, 99-91, 99-91.
Johnson’s jab was on point, landing eight per round and giving Guerrero second thoughts about firing off his own offense. It provided Johnson the offensive openings he needed to stay in control. When Johnson got up some steam, he landed good shots on Johnson. But the fighter nicknamed “Machine Gun” didn’t have enough firepower.
In the last four rounds of ten, Johnson outlanded Guerrero 86 punches to 35 punches, and landed 48% of his power punches. He drilled more shots to the body, ensuring Guerrero didn’t get any big ideas.
Johnson achieved a longtime dream fighting in Cleveland as a professional. “I haven’t fought here since I was 17. I’m so happy to be here,” said Johnson. “We did it!”
“When you’re from Cleveland, you’ve got to get outta the mud. That’s what we do!” said Johnson as the fans roared in approval. The cheers grew even louder when Johnson called out welterweight champion Devin Haney.
Deric Davis Avoids Disaster
Lightweight Deric “Scooter” Davis (12-0, 10 KOs) was fortunate to escape with a unanimous decision after a strong, crafty performance by Carlos Ramos of Spain (18-5-1, 10 KOs). Ramos had Davis hamstrung and tied up all night, preventing him from unleashing his power shots.
As the scores were read for Davis, 78-74, 78-74, and 77-75, the knowledgeable Cleveland boxing fans booed. They know what they saw, and they’d seen Ramos winning.
CompuBox stats show 91 of 512 punches landed for Davis (18%), and 93 of 453 landed for Ramos (21%).
“It was fine. The guy was tricky. Everything is good, though,” said Davis. “He knows all the tricks of the trade,” said Davis, pointing out he’s only 23 years old and still working on his craft.
Opening the card, the Mason brothers went two for two. Lightweight Abdurrahman Mason (3-0, 2 KOs) got a stiff challenge from Alvaro Huizar Cabral of Colorado (1-1), who landed solid power punches on Mason and took several himself in a crowd-pleasing fight across four rounds. Scores were 40-36 on all three cards for Mason.
Brother Ibrahim Mason (3-0, 3 KOs) took care of business with four knockdowns before referee Lonnie Scott told a brave Erik Hanley of California (1-3, 1 KO) his night was over at 1:59 of round two. Of the two brothers, super featherweight Ibrahim most resembles his world champion sibling Abdullah Mason.
Boxing’s Return to Linear TV
Whether the quality of the fights lived up to expectations or not, the new broadcast partnership between DAZN and the monthly linear broadcast series “The Fight” on TNT Sports and truTV was a welcome development and a positive sign for boxing in the U.S.
The TNT Sports commentary team of former champions Shawn Porter, Timothy Bradley Jr., and Terence Crawford was a welcome addition, providing pre- and post-fight discussion. They were also brought into the main card for quick hits.
“The Fight” returns on Saturday, August 1 for the card featuring Lamont Roach Jr. vs. William Zepeda in the main event, and Raymond Muratalla vs Robson Conceicao in the co-main event on the card from the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist with more than four dozen awards for both written and video coverage from the Boxing Writers Association of America, Society of Professional Journalists, and San Diego Press Club, where she is the past president. She is the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the BWAA. She is the Boxing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.