The WBO lightweight title fight between Abdullah Mason and Sam Noakes was the best of those staged in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday evening.
On paper, Mason – the winner via decision – underperformed, and Noakes over-performed, but it’s an oversimplification to look at it that way.
Despite that, watching their back and forth live – and believing it could have been easier for Mason if he had used his skills more – I started to conclude that Mason was out to prove his chin was world class and that he possessed the grit and willingness to engage and become a household name. That being written, I would like to see him be more defensively conscious moving forwards, because he has all the makings of a star.
Ultimately, it’s too early in their careers at that level to be certain. Mason, at the age of 21, showed the grit, the will and the skill required to become such a young world champion, and has time on his side to improve, even if the reality is that the very, very best don’t get hit as much as he did.
There are some really appealing fights that can be made at 135lbs that include those two, Raymond Muratalla, Andy Cruz, Shakur Stevenson if he remains there and Gervonta Davis – if he even continues to box – to officially determine who’s the very best.
Mason has become champion in a day and age when unifications are demanded, and routine defences are criticised more than ever. Having that title means he has to continue to test himself, not prioritise a steady build. Despite Noakes’ performance, Noakes – who’s clearly very tough and powerful and was resisting Mason’s determination to knock him out – also has to take the opportunities that he is offered because there isn’t the same interest in him that there is in the other contenders at his weight.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez showed once again, when beating Fernando “Puma” Martinez in their WBO, WBA and WBC super-flyweight title fight, why he unquestionably is an all-time great.
Martinez represented a very dangerous opponent but after the first round the threat he posed was nullified. Rodriguez is among the most fluid and savage fighters in the world – he’s in the top five, at any weight, and in plenty of eras would be good enough to be number one but in this one happens to be competing with Oleksandr Usyk, Terence Crawford and Naya Inoue, the established top three.
His jab; his footwork; his ability to create angles… he’s an incredibly creative fighter. I’ve previously compared him to how an AI fighter would be – he consistently calculates every movement several steps in advance, and his opponents are always behind. Martinez took the first round on my scorecard but that was it – thereafter Rodriguez was impressive in every way in which he also was on the night of his finest win, against Juan Franciso Estrada in 2024. He found his rhythm and became unstoppable.
It’s when he expects an easier night’s work that he’s less impressive. Martinez was supposed to really test him; Rodriguez knew that, turned up at his best and made dominating him look easy. Junto Nakatani or Naoya Inoue might prove capable of much more, but they’re on paths that won’t involve him anytime soon.
Devin Haney, who so convincingly beat Brian Norman Jnr to win the WBO 147lbs title, already had star quality, and in victory made himself the welterweight to beat. Haney, in much the way I’d anticipated – the early knockdown aside – made sure it wasn’t a close fight. He was too experienced, too intelligent, too fleet-footed, too consistent with his jab and too in control of the distance between them for Norman Jnr. Norman Jnr stops those who stand in front of him – Haney was never going to do that.
Haney’s a three-division champion for a reason. He knows how to win and doesn’t care how he does so. At the time of the knockdown, in the second round, I was surprised, but when I later reflected on what happened I was reminded that Norman Jnr hadn’t previously fought anyone truly of note.
In victory, Haney put what happened against Ryan Garcia even further behind him. The threat posed by Jose Carlos Ramirez meant I’d never questioned his performance that night in May – all he did against Norman Jnr was show once again that he’s the real deal. He also looked very big at welterweight – this could be his weight division more than lightweight or junior welterweight ever were. He could rule for some time at 147lbs.
Norman Jnr remains the world’s second-best welterweight. At 25 he’s young and improving – he will get other opportunities and can rebuild.
It’s much more difficult to be as optimistic about Anthony Yarde, who in defeat by David Benavidez looked nothing like the fighter he did against Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev.
Benavidez again looked very good, but the ease with which he stopped Yarde, in the seventh round of their WBO light heavyweight title fight, was more a reflection of Yarde’s limitations than the extent to which Benavidez impressed. Yarde, psychologically, didn’t show up in the way we’ve come to expect – he didn’t look like he ever believed that he could win.
I want to see Benavidez tested at a higher level next – even more than I’d like a third fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol. The potential cruiserweight fight against the very good Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez is very intriguing. Benavidez is consistently trying to fight the very best at the weights he’s competing at – if he can’t get Beterbiev or Bivol, Ramirez is a phenomenal alternative for us all.
I also still really want to see Yarde fight Joshua Buatsi, by the way, even if Yarde’s declining. British boxing does domestic dust-ups best.
