The Cleveland, Ohio, native earned his championship status with a close, but clear unanimous decision win over Sam Noakes on November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. At the moment, only one other fighter holds a belt in his division: Raymond Muratalla. The IBF champ recently made the first defense of his strap against Andy Cruz on January 24, winning a hard-fought majority decision. So why not pit the beltholders against one another? Mason likes the idea of meeting Muratalla but it might have to wait. “That’s a great step,” Mason told FightHype.com when asked if he would be interested in fighting Muratalla. “I think anything we do would be a great step. If that comes after, then OK.” After? Mason was making reference to the fact that he and Muratalla have other plans. Shakur Stevenson appears to be Muratalla's primary target. The 2016 Olympic silver medalist scored the biggest win of his career against Teofimo Lopez on "The Ring VI" card January 31 in New York, which made him the Ring and WBO champion at 140. Meanwhile, Mason (20-0, 17 KOs) may have to face Joe Cordina. The former IBF junior lightweight champion defeated Gabriel Flores Jr. to earn the No. 1 spot in the IBF rankings. Mason, 21, is well aware that if he wants to take part in some of the biggest fights in the sport, he’ll need to get Cordina (19-1, 9 KOs) out of the way. “We got some stuff in the works right now, a possible title defense,” Mason said. “I do have a mandatory, Joe Cordina. After him, we’ll see.”