Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’ assistant coach, Kenny Ellis, says he rates Abdullah Mason (14-0, 12 KOs) as the #2 lightweight in the 135-lb division after watching him steamroll Luis Lebron (20-6-1, 13 KOs) by third round knockout last Saturday night on ESPN at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Kenny Ellis ranks his fighter, Tank Davis, as #1 in the lightweight division and Abdullah Mason is now #2 in the division, which is impressive considering his age. He is only 20 years old, but he has the strength, skills, and instincts that set him apart from other lightweights in this division.
Kenny didn’t give a full list of who he sees as the top contenders in the division, but we have to assume he sees it like this:
- Gervonta Davis
- Abdullah Mason
- Shakur Stevenson
It’s hard to put Shakur ahead of Vasily Lomachenko after last night’s match against Harutyunyan. If that was Lomachenko, he would have embarrassed Harutyunyan.
Ellis said that if WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson had not stopped Artem Harutyunyan last Saturday night, he would have placed Mason as the No. 2 champion at 135.
He said he believed that Abdullah Mason would take out Harutyunyan, and many fans agreed. If Mason had been in the ring with Harutyunyan at least for the night, he would have knocked him out, probably in six rounds.
Shakur (22-0, 10 KOs) struggled to defeat Harutyunyan by unanimous decision over twelve rounds in poor performance. Many of them escalated the fight in the later rounds, with many heading for the exits, perhaps enraged by what they saw.
Buried on the undercard, Abdullah Mason knocked Lebron down twice in the second round and finished him in the third round to earn a knockout. Lebron has never been stopped before in his career, making Mason’s feat all the more impressive.
“If Shakur doesn’t stop Artem, Abdullah Mason gets the 2nd spot on my list as the second best lightweight,” trainer Kenny Ellis said on Instagram. “The child is the real story of the new generation. I believe Abdullah Mason will stop Artem.
In the third, Lebon’s team took him out of the battle after being shot by Mason’s body and wounding him. The stoppage time was 1:18. It was a smart move in Lebron’s corner because he wasn’t going to be out of the round. Mason was pouring hard punches on him at will, and Lebron was going to be knocked out no matter what.
Lebron was bleeding badly from the second round, he looked to his corner after being knocked down for the second time.
Mason looks like a better fighter than WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson right now, which promoters will see as the Newark native becomes a free agent. After how Shakur did against Harutyunyan, showing no strength and looking average while fighting aggressively, he is not on Abdullah Mason’s level.
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