Abdullah Mason (21-0, 18 KOs) defended his WBO lightweight title with a 12th-round TKO of Albert Bell (28-1, 9 KOs) on Saturday night at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center, closing out a difficult fight with two knockdowns in the final round.

Bell, a Toledo native, stepped in as a late replacement after Joe Cordina withdrew from the bout due to a visa issue. The matchup marked the first world title fight held in Cleveland since 2006, drawing a crowd of 10,101 that included Mason’s hometown supporters.

Mason opened the fight working behind left and right hands to the body, but Bell countered effectively through the early rounds. A clash of heads in the second round opened a cut above Mason’s left eye. Mason increased his output through the middle rounds, mixing jabs with straight left hands before turning his attention to Bell’s body in the ninth round.

With the fight close on the scorecards entering the final round, Mason came forward at the opening bell and scored a knockdown. Bell beat the count, but a second knockdown prompted referee Marc Nelson to stop the contest at 45 seconds of the 12th round.

“I feel great. We had a game plan. We were going to work the body,” Mason said. “Then they told me I was behind on the cards, so I stepped it up and finished the fight.”

“He’s a great opponent. I knew it was going to be a great fight. I just had to take my time,” Mason said. “I want to thank him for stepping in. And thank you, Cleveland.”

Carrington Retains Featherweight Title

In the co-feature, Brooklyn’s Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (18-0, 10 KOs) retained his WBC featherweight title with a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rene Palacios (19-1-1, 10 KOs). Carrington worked from a shoulder-roll stance for much of the fight, using hand speed to outland Palacios in most exchanges. Palacios found his most significant moment in the 11th round with a body shot that hurt Carrington, who regained composure behind his footwork to close out the fight.

Scores were 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110, all in favor of Carrington.

“These are the fights that I have been wanting,” Carrington said. “There were some tough moments, including the body shot, but it’s part of the game. I want to unify. I want to fight the best of the division, and that’s whoever the champions are.”

Undercard Results

Cleveland’s Delante “Tiger” Johnson (18-0, 8 KOs) used a consistent jab to control Christopher Guerrero (16-1, 9 KOs) over 10 rounds, winning by scores of 100-92 and 99-91 twice.

“Thank you to Cleveland for coming out,” Johnson said. “I hadn’t fought here in 10 years. It was a very hard camp. It means everything to fight here. A lot of people don’t know where I come from. I had to overcome a lot of adversity. Tell Devin Haney to come see me.”

In other undercard action, Deric “Scooter” Davis (12-0, 10 KOs) won an eight-round unanimous decision over Carlos Ramos (18-5-1, 10 KOs) by scores of 77-75 and 78-74 twice. Ibrahim Mason (3-0, 3 KOs) stopped Erik Hanley (1-3, 1 KO) at 1:59 of the second round in a super featherweight bout, and Abdurrahman Mason (3-0, 2 KOs) defeated Alvaro Huizar Cabral (1-1) by four-round unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the bout 40-36.

The card streamed on DAZN and aired domestically on TNT.