Bob Arum believes he has the next Sugar Ray Leonard on his books, or at least a world champion who can become one of boxing’s “major stars”.
The veteran Top Rank promoter was heavily involved in Leonard’s career, including his first world title reign at 147lbs.
Back then, in 1979, the all-time great dethroned Wilfred Benitez with a 15th-round stoppage, before successfully defending his WBC strap against Dave ‘Boy’ Green the following year.
It was then just three months later that Leonard suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Roberto Duran, who he stopped in round eight of their immediate rematch.
The American subsequently remained unbeaten for the next decade, cultivating a Hall of Fame career, which promoter Arum believes WBO lightweight champion Abdullah Mason can also go on to achieve.
A gritty performance against Sam Noakes saw him become the sport’s youngest active male world champion, courtesy of a unanimous decision victory last November.
The 22-year-old, who has 17 knockouts from his 22 victories, was then supposed to defend his title against Joe Cordina this Saturday, only for his British opponent to be denied a US visa.
As a result, Mason will instead face unbeaten contender Albert Bell at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio, with Arum telling FightHype that the skilful southpaw could follow in the footsteps of Leonard.
“It looks like he’ll be one of the major stars in boxing. He’s so young – he’s won a world title, but I think the sky’s the limit.
“He comes from a very good family and he’s a disciplined kid, so I’m not going to worry about him going off and doing some crazy s**t.
“If he continues on the trajectory [he’s on], he can be the next Sugar Ray Leonard.”
Having previously sparred fellow Ohio native Bell on multiple occasions, the talented Mason should have a clear idea of what to expect in his maiden title defence.
