More details have emerged surrounding the upcoming November card that is set to see David Benavidez and Anthony Yarde participate on it. With further reports signaling the title bout between Brian Norman Jr. and Devin Haney will be featured on the card, another title fight has been confirmed in the upcoming bout between Abdullah Mason and Sam Noakes who have reached an agreement since the WBO ordered the fight. The two lightweight contenders will now be vying for the vacant WBO 135-pound title recently vacated by Keyshawn Davis.
Keyshawn Davis (13-0, 9 KO’s) lost the WBO lightweight (135 lbs) title on the scales that lead to the outright cancellation of a planned title defense against Dominican contender Edwin De Los Santos on June 7th. Immediately after, the WBO ordered a bout between American contender Abdullah Mason (19-0, 17 KO’s) and British contender Sam Noakes (17-0, 15 KO’s) for the vacant WBO title. Mason and Noakes respectively occupy the #1 and #2 spots on the WBO’s 135 lbs ranking boards.
Mason, 21, headlined the same show Davis was set to main event in, scoring a clean stoppage victory in the 5th round [out of 10 rounds] over former world title challenger Jeremia Nakathila (26-5, 21 KO’s) from Namibia to become the top WBO lightweight contender.
Noakes, 27, last fought in May against Czech contender Patrik Balaz (13-5-1, 5 KO’s) whom he ended up knocking out in the 3rd round of their 8-round match.
With their lightweight title bout confirmed to occur on the undercard of the recently announced Benavidez vs. Yarde match, the Mason-Noakes match is set to become one of three known world title fights that is set to transpire on the card ― with another title bout between Brian Norman Jr. and Devin Haney also set to take place on the same November card.
Notably, Abdullah Mason enters the fight as the less experienced fighter having yet to compete in a 12-round fight whereas Sam Noakes has competed in at least two ― though both fights ended within the distance.
With Mason well-known as a southpaw, the orthodox-stanced Noakes has had experience fighting southpaws before but will need to contend with a highly-rated young American fighter who appears to have the potential to be a future great in the sport.
However, Noakes carries the advantages that comes with being in his physical prime and may yet be the stronger fighter going into the fight ― a fact that should provide an interesting element to the match given both boxers have similar KO ratio’s.
Based on Mason’s billing ― helped by a more prevalent amateur career, the argument can be made that Abdullah Mason will be the favorite going into the fight yet Sam Noakes can hardly be considered the underdog given his own experience fighting decent contenders such as Frenchman Yvan Mendy (49-7-1, 22 KO’s) and fellow Brit Ryan Walsh (29-5-2, 13 KO’s).
Noakes’ resume further carries several wins over unbeaten fighters as opposed to Mason’s lone win against an unbeaten yet inexperienced contender during the earlier portions of his career.
