Abdullah Mason (15-0, 13 KOs) will face Yohan Vasquez (26-5, 21 KOs) on Nov. 8 in an eight-round bout on the undercard of Keyshawn Davis vs. Gustavo Lemos at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia . . The event will be shown live on ESPN+.
Mason’s presence on the card puts pressure on Keyshawn
Putting Mason on this card will push lightweight contender Keyshawn to step up his game, as he has looked increasingly badass with every fight Top Rank has given him. Having Mason on this card will highlight the mistake the top rankings made by wasting their money signing Keyshawn out of the 2020 Olympics.
For this occasion, Top Rank chose not to bury the 20-year-old Mason’s fight as they have done in the past. Mason has consistently topped the main event in recent cards and has been the saving grace, especially for Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan’s main player last July. Mason looked spectacular on that card, destroying Luis Lebron in three rounds.
Some fans on social media say Mason should be the one to fight Keyshawn (11-0, 7 KOs) in the main event, rather than the recently beaten Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs), who lost his last fight in April did and didn’t even fight at 135. It seems pretty obvious why Top Rank chose a 140-pounder for Keyshawn.
If Lemos lost weight, Keyshawn would have the advantage he needs to win and would look good to casual fans. Ideally, Top Rank should show fans that Keyshawn is for real by agreeing to promoter Eddie Hearn’s offer to set up a fight between Keyshawn and 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz, who has beaten Davis four times in the amateurs.
World title in sight
The plan is for Mason, 5’9″, to continue to take fights up the ranks before challenging for a world title in 2025 against one of the lightweight world champions. Top Rank isn’t saying who the champion will be, but it could be Shakur if he still holds the WBC title.
That’s unlikely because of the killer’s row of fighters Shakur’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has scheduled for him to fight William Zepeda and Gervonta Davis next year. If the WBC title is captured by Tank, Mason can forget about getting a shot at him, as the Baltimore native will likely sit on the WBC title and focus on other fighters who are better known.
Shakur’s new promoter, Eddie Hearn, probably won’t let him near a puncher like Abdullah Mason after the way the New Jersey native fared against knockout artists Edwin De Los Santos and Jeremiah Nakathilia. Shakur ran around in both fights like his life depended on it, looking terrified. Hearn is trying to turn Shakur into a “global star,” and putting him in with Mason would be counterproductive.
Mason will be a nightmare for Keyshawn, who gets hit a lot and has already shown chin issues during his short career. Top Rank probably wants to keep Keyshawn and Abdullah Mason far apart to have separate income streams. But if Keyshawn is going to get beat up soon, and it sure looks like it, it might as well be Mason who does it.
Lemos is a light welterweight who was chosen to drop down to 135 to face Keyshawn for some unknown reason. It doesn’t bode well for Lemos to cut additional weight to face Keyshawn at lightweight.
Other notable fights on the card
- Also on the November 8th card is WBO Welterweight Champion Brian Norman Jr., who makes his first defense against #7 Derrieck Cuevas in the co-feature. It should be an exciting battle while it lasts.
- Middleweight Troy Isley (13-0, 5 KOs) fights Tyler Howard (20-1, 11 KOs) in a ten round fight. If Howard has any pop in his punches, he could win this fight because Isley has already shown a weak chin, and he has no power whatsoever.
Two of boxing’s best young talents are headed to VA 🔥#KeyshawnLemos | FRI 8 NOV | @ESPNplus pic.twitter.com/ioa0xkjvWk
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) September 4, 2024
 will be battling Yohan Vasquez (26-5, 21 KOs) on November 8th in an eight-round fight on the undercard of Keyshawn Davis vs.){kind=link}