Winning a major title was never the end game for Abdullah Mason; it was an expectation.
In his words, it was why the unbeaten Ohio native made a conscious effort to fight the way he did against a relentless foe in Sam Noakes. Their thrilling 12-round, WBO lightweight title clash resulted in one of the year’s best contests, won by Mason via unanimous decision last Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
At just 21, Mason, 20-0 (17 KOs) surpassed Xander Zayas as the youngest active male titleholder in the sport. The win comes as the lightweight division is on the verge of having plenty of room at the top level.
“This title is the door opener for bigger things to come,” Mason told BoxingScene. “Whatever route we take, I’m just hoping for a lot of success. Even more than what I’ve achieved already.”
Mason was the odds-on favorite to prevail, though few predicted the way he would ultimately secure the victory.
However, the end result was precisely what he envisioned when the fight was first made and more so once he had the sense of what Noakes brought to the table.
“For this matchup, I expected this type of fight for sure,” Mason insisted. “I told everyone, I knew I’d have to bring something out. I knew he was coming with what he was coming with. It was a crazy fight. I had to fight him.
“I know there was a lot that everyone saw on TV. There was also a lot that y’all didn’t see. I definitely had to fight that guy. There’s nobody else in the division who would have fought him that way and still come out with the win.”
It was the second time in just over a year that Mason was able to survive a true in-ring test.
Last November, he was forced to overcome a pair of opening round knockdowns to ultimately stop Yohan Vasquez in the second round of their condensed thriller in Norfolk, Virginia. It capped a six-win campaign for the rising lightweight, who began 2024 with his first scheduled eight-round contest.
Two fights into his 2025 campaign, Mason was scheduled for his first ten-round affair.
He still only needed six rounds to get the job done in a one-sided wipeout of Carlos Ornelal, for his second win of the year and part of what would become a nine-fight knockout streak. His fifth-round stoppage of former title challenger Jeremiah Nakathila on June 7 – also in Norfolk - was a signal that Mason was ready for the top level.
In fact, he went into that promotion teasing the possibility of entering the title picture. The show’s original headliner was Norfolk’s own Keyshawn Davis, who held the WBO 135lbs title at the time. Davis and Mason exchanged words during the buildup, laying the foundation for a bigger fight to come sometime down the road.
Davis wound up being pulled from the show after badly blowing weight. The disastrous setback also resulted in the end of his title reign – and opened the door for the next chapter in Mason’s still rising career.
“It’s funny – six months ago, I’d never even been past six rounds,” stated Mason. “Six months later, my first 12-rounder is the craziest fight of the year.
“Whatever boxing puts in front of me, I proved that I’m always prepared to come out on top.”
He intends for those words to ring true – really through the rest of his career, but specifically through his forthcoming run in 2026.
A next opponent is far from being decided, though it matters little. Whether the likes of Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis – the unbeaten WBC and WBA titlists, respectively – stick around or move on to the next phase of their respective journeys, Mason is prepared to take the lead.
“Whatever is to come after this is going to be bigger and better,” Mason vowed. “Whether it’s this division, or whatever division I wind up in - I’m just hoping for a lot of success. Even more than what I’ve achieved already.”
