May 5, 2026
2 min read
Abdullah Mason is returning home for his first title defense.
The WBO lightweight champion will face Joe Cordina on July 4 at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center, Top Rank announced on Tuesday at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Mason vs. Cordina headlines the first “The Fight” event, which will stream on DAZN and TNT.
Mason vs. Cordina also marks Top Rank’s first card on national television in the U.S. since Xander Zayas beat Jorge Garcia Perez by unanimous decision to win the vacant WBO 154-pound title on July 26 on ESPN.
Cordina wasn’t in attendance, but he sent a video saying he planned to spoil Mason’s homecoming bout in Cleveland. Mason will be fighting in Cleveland for the first time as a pro.
“It sounds cool right now, but I know I’m going to have fun on July 4,” Mason said in response to Cordina. “As soon as that bell rings, I’m going to see everything that I see when I’m in the gym when I step in there with my brothers and everything that we watch of Joe. I’m going to have fun doing what I do, and he’s not going to expect whatever it is that I have coming for him.”
WBC featherweight champion Bruce Carrington and undefeated welterweight and 2020 U.S. Olympian Tiger Johnson were at the press conference alongside Mason. Top Rank also announced that Carrington (17-0, 10 KOs) will make his first title defense against Rene Palacios (19-0-1, 10 KOs), and Johnson (17-0, 8 KOs), who is also a Cleveland native, will face Christopher Guerrero (16-0, 9 KOs).
Undefeated lightweight Deric “Scooter” Davis (11-0, 10 KOs) will face Carlos Ramos (18-4-1, 10 KOs) in an eight-round clash, and Mason’s brothers, Abdurrahman Mason (2-0, 2 KOs) and Ibrahim Mason (2-0, 2 KOs), will also be on the card.
“I've been in the gym and training with my brothers since I was nine years old,” Mason said. “My memories are always like traveling with them and giving me that support and making me better at what I do inside and outside of the ring. Anything we did inside or outside of Cleveland, they always supported me.”
Mason (20-0, 17 KOs), 22, won the then-vacant WBO title with a thrilling unanimous decision victory over Sam Noakes on Nov. 22. The win made Mason boxing’s youngest current male champion at 21 years old.
The dynamic southpaw is The Ring’s No. 5-ranked lightweight.
Cordina (19-1, 9 KOs), of Cardiff, Wales, previously held the IBF 130-pound title. He cemented himself as the top contender for Mason’s belt in his U.S. debut with a unanimous decision victory over Gabriel Flores Jr. on Dec. 13.
“He's definitely a volume puncher,” Mason said of Cordina. “He has some good offense. He's quick. He’s got some good feet. He's well-rounded at what he does, but everything he does, I do better.”
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Bruce Carrington to defend featherweight belt against Rene Palacios
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