Abdullah Mason (20-0, 17 KOs) survived a 12-round war to defeat Sam Noakes (17-1, 15 KOs) by unanimous decision to claim the vacant WBO lightweight title on Saturday night, November 22 at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(Credit: Queensberry/Leigh Dawney)
Mason pushed to the edge
It wasn’t an easy fight for the 21-year-old Mason after that as he took a lot of punishment from Noakes. He blamed the hard shots he took in his fight with Noakes.
The reality was that Noakes landed his best shots in the second half of the game when Mason was on them, poking and trying his best to play away.
Scorecards Tell the story
The scores were 115-113, 117-111 and 115-113. The two scores of 115-113 were the more accurate as Noakes seemed to get the better of Mason in many of the second half rounds.
Going into tonight’s fight, Abdullah was not used to fighting beyond six rounds as he quickly knocked out most of his opponents in two or three rounds. When Noakes was still standing there halfway, Mason didn’t have the gas tank he used to have.
Punch Statistics breakdown
- Abdullah Mason – 214 of 566 shots for 38%
- Sam Noakes – 156 of 613 for 25%
Abdullah’s strange turn after the fight
“I wouldn’t say he was tougher than I expected. I fought his fight. That’s what made it what it was,” Abdullah Mason said. Ring Magazinedownplaying the problems Sam Noakes gave him with his pressure in their clash in Riyadh on Saturday night.
Mason tried his best to keep Noakes on the outside, but he did a great job cutting off the ring and landing his power shots. Abdullah made it easier by pulling back and standing upright much of the time, making his head an easy target.
“Whatever they have coming, I’m prepared. It’s as hard as it gets, fighting somebody else’s fight. If I fought my fight, it would have made it so much easier. But we got the job done. I’m excited for what’s next. The main thing was he was pretty solid,” Mason says, giving a strange answer to the question. “How was his strength?”
Mason took the shots at Noakes, but one could tell he was bothered by it. If Noakes had hit him with some of the punches he just missed, he might have knocked him out.
“Everything I landed, he was still standing there waiting for me. I had to stay locked up for all 12. Yeah, for sure,” Abdullah said when asked if this was the “start of the belt collection season.”
Last updated on 23/11/2025
 survived a 12-round war to defeat Sam Noakes (17-1, 15 KOs) by a unanimous decision to claim the vacant WBO lightweight title on){kind=link}