Lightweight prospect Abdullah Mason faces Manuel Jaimes next month on Valentine’s Day, February 14, at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York.
Chin Check
This is a step back for the 20-year-old Mason (16-0, 14 KOs), who fought in his last fight against Yohan Vasquez, falling him twice in the first round on November 8 in Norfolk, Virginia.
Mason vs. Jaimes will fight on the Denys Berinchyk vs. Keyshawn Davis card. They will fight on the ESPN+ streamed preliminary card instead of the ESPN main card. The co-feature fight on the card is undefeated junior middleweight Xander Zayas (20-0, 12 KOs) fighting Slawa Spomer (20-0, 11 KOs) in a 10-round fight.
Top Rank isn’t taking any chances with Mason, so they opted for a soft punch in Jaimes (16-2-1, 11 KO), who is coming off a wide ten-round unanimous decision loss to the former WBA light welterweight champion in September 14 last year.
It’s been a busy year for the 5’9″ southpaw Mason in 2024, fighting four times and knocking them all out. Before his last fight against Vasquez, 30, a native of the Dominican Republic (26-6, 21 KOs), Mason had talked about fighting for a world title in 2025.
However, after being cut repeatedly by Vasquez’s left hooks in their fight last November, Mason stopped talking about fighting for a world title. He knows now that he needs more time before he’s ready, and he may never get there if his chin continues to betray him. Floyd Schofield Sr. revealed that his son had injured Mason in sparring.
Mason needs to be less aggressive and pick his spots when he opens up with his offense. He doesn’t have the chin to fight the way he does, going all out for the knockouts.
Challenge of Manuel Jaimes
Jaimes, 24, looked slow and weak in his loss to Rolly Romero, so he’s not a threat to Mason. As long as Abdullah doesn’t leave himself open by throwing repeated uppercuts, he should be able to defeat Jaimes with no problems. It will be interesting to see if he can knock it out because he showed a good chin in his fight against Rolly.
If Mason moves up to the lightweight division, he’s going to have a lot of trouble fighting at 140 or 147 if his punch resistance doesn’t improve.
