Lightweight prospect Abdullah Mason faces Manuel Jaimes next month on Valentine’s Day, February 14, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Chin Check
It’s a step back for the 20-year-old Mason (16-0, 14 KOs), who struggled in his last fight against Yohan Vasquez, dropping him twice in the first round on Nov. 8 in Norfolk, Va. fall is
Mason vs. Jaimes will be on the undercard of the Denys Berinchyk vs. Keyshawn Davis card fights. They will fight on the ESPN+ streamed preliminary card rather than the ESPN main card. Co-bout on the card is undefeated junior middleweight Xander Zayas (20-0, 12 KOs) taking on Slawa Spomer (20-0, 11 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
Top Rank isn’t taking any chances with Mason, so they opted for a soft puncher in Jaimes (16-2-1, 11 KOs), who is coming off a wide ten-round unanimous decision loss to the former WBA light welterweight champion September is coming. 14th last year.
It’s been a busy year for the 5’9″ southpaw Mason in 2024, fighting four times and striking out all of them. Before his last fight against 30-year-old Dominican Republic native Vasquez (26-6, 21 KOs), Mason talked about fighting for a world title in 2025.
However, after being clipped repeatedly by Vasquez’s left hooks in their fight last November, Mason stopped talking about fighting for a world title. He knew now that he needed more time before he would be ready, and he might never get there if his chin kept betraying him. Floyd Schofield Sr. revealed that he hurt his son Mason in sparring.
Mason needs to be less aggressive and pick his spots when he gets open with his offense. He doesn’t have the chin to fight like he does, and goes all out for knockouts.
Manuel Jaimes Challenge
Jaimes, 24, looked slow and weak in his loss to Rolly Romero, so he’s not a threat to Mason. As long as Abdullah doesn’t leave himself open by throwing repeated uppercuts, he should be able to defeat Jaimes without any problems. It will be interesting to see if he can knock him out as he showed a good chin in his fight against Rolly.
If Mason outgrows the lightweight division, he’s going to have a lot of trouble fighting at 140 or 147 if his punching resistance doesn’t improve.
