Abdullah Mason (16-0, 14 KOs) had to come off the deck twice in the first round to come back to defeat Yohan Vasquez (26-5, 21 KOs) by a second-round KO on the undercard on Friday. night at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.
(Credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank)
The 20-year-old Mason was sloppy in the first round and dropped a powerful counter left hand from Vasquez. Mason tried to land a big left of his own, and was open for the opposite left. After that takedown, Mason came back to knock out Vasquez with a perfectly placed left uppercut.
Mason then went for the kill, but was caught by another left hook and pinned. Fortunately for Abdullah, this fall came in the final seconds of the round.
In the second round, Mason injured Vasquez with his left hand in the opening seconds. Vasquez appeared to suffer an injury to his right leg with that punch and was limping afterward.
Mason took advantage of the injury from the inside and knocked Vasquez to the canvas with a left to the body. Vasquez was too injured to beat the count. The stoppage time was at 1:59 of the second round.
Overall, it was a good performance from Mason, who showed the ability to keep his cool despite being dropped twice. Many fighters would have been mentally exhausted if they had been put on the canvas like Mason did. He stayed relaxed and continued to take the fight to Vasquez.
The fight was basically over in the first few seconds of the second round when Mason hurt Vasquez with a left hand. Vasquez hurt his left with that punch and couldn’t generate any power on his punches from that point on.
You have to give Vasquez a lot of credit as well. He had Mason’s game all figured out and was landing his left hook when he threw it. He had obviously studied it well.
Even after Vasquez hurt his left in the second round, he came within inches of connecting with another left hand that could have knocked Mason down a third time if it had landed. Vasquez is an excellent puncher, and much better than many fans thought going into tonight’s contest.
Last updated on 11/08/2024
