Light heavyweight Abdullah Mason faces Manuel James next month on Valentine's Day, February 14, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Chin examination
This is a step back for the 20-year-old Mason (16-0, 14 KO), who struggled in his last fight against Johan Vasquez, getting knocked down twice by him in the first round on November 8 in Norfolk, Virginia.
Mason vs. Jaimes is on the undercard of the Denys Berinchyk vs. Keyshawn Davis. They will fight on the preliminary card streamed on ESPN+ instead of the ESPN main card. Co-fighting 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 light jab in Jaimes (16-2-1, 11 KOs), who is coming off a wide-ranging ten-round unanimous decision loss to the former WBA light welterweight champion on September 14 last year.
It's been a busy year for 5'9″ southpaw Mason in 2024, as he battled four times and took out everyone. Ahead of his latest fight against 30-year-old Dominican Republic native Vasquez (26-6, 21 KO), Mason talked about fighting for a world title in 2025.
However, after being repeatedly clipped by Vazquez'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 hurt Mason sparring.
Mason has 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 knockout.
Manuel James challenge
James, 24, looked slow and weak in his loss to Rolly Romero, so he poses no threat to Mason. As long as Abdullah doesn't leave himself open by throwing frequent uppercuts, he should be able to defeat James without any problems. It will be interesting to see if he can knock him out as he showed a good chin in his fight against Rollie.
If Mason moves up the lightweight division, he will have a lot of problems fighting at 140 or 147 if his punch resistance doesn't improve.
