A controversial stoppage is creating headlines in boxing again.

Abdullah Mason (21-0) put his WBO lightweight title on the line
against Albert Bell (28-1) on Saturday at the Wolstein Center in
Cleveland. Mason, 22, the youngest current boxing world champion,
didn’t find momentum in the early rounds. However, the Cleveland
native turned the tide in the latter rounds, scoring two
knockdowns, the second of which led to the stoppage, albeit not
without controversy.

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Mason dropped Bell with a left hook early in the final frame that
didn’t appear to have connected flush. Just as Bell got back to a
knee, referee Mark Nelson shockingly stopped the fight with
protests from the challenger. The stoppage faced severe backlash
from fans as Bell seemed to have gone down from exhaustion rather
than the impact of Mason’s shot.

Referee’s shocking stoppage overshadows Abdullah Mason’s title
defense

The boxing world has hardly healed from Rico
Verhoeven’s controversial stoppage loss against Oleksander
Usyk. Verhoeven seemed to be en route to a monumental upset win
while challenging Usyk for the heavyweight title this past May.
However, Usyk turned the tables late in the fight and dropped
Verhoeven in the 11th round.

While Verhoeven returned to his feet, Usyk followed up with another
flurry that mostly connected on the former kickboxing champion’s
guard. However, referee Mark Lyson bizarrely stopped the fight with
a second left in the stanza and Verhoeven still standing.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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