Abdullah Mason becomes the youngest world champion in men's boxing in instant classic against Sam Noakes

Abdullah Mason used razor-sharp accuracy and a bevy of body shots to methodically dismantle Sam Noakes’ grit in an instant classic fight to claim the WBO lightweight world title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and live on DAZN Pay-Per-View, on Saturday night. At the end of 12 rounds that spelled a war of attrition, judges scored the bout 117-111, 115-113 and 115-113 all in favor of Mason for the rousing unanimous decision victory.

With the win, Mason, a Cleveland, Ohio native, became the youngest champion in men’s boxing at 21, replacing Xander Zayas who was 22 at the time he captured the WBO super welterweight world title in July. But it wasn’t easy thanks to Noakes’ toughness and persistence.

Mason started the bout pot-shotting Noakes with clean shots but the British fighter was unrelenting at fighting forward despite a nasty gash that opened up on his left eye due to an accidental clashing of heads early in the fight.

After Noakes briefly buckled Mason’s knees with a hard right hand in the fifth, the latter could have used his footwork to be content on sticking and moving, but the 21-year-old star of the future started to bite down on his mouthpiece and impose his will on the inside, instead.

The sixth round had him committing to the body with a series of crunching shots but that didn’t stop the heavier-handed British fighter from battling back to win the seventh.

The eighth round had Mason ravaging the body once again and he continued to do so as the fighters filled the ring with fireworks for exchanges till the final bell with Mason (20-0, 17 KOs) getting the better of the tradeoffs to the hardest-fought victory of his career.

Though he fell short of the title in suffering his first pro loss, Noakes (17-1, 15 KOs) certainly won over new fans with the glaring toughness he exhibited through 12 rounds.