Asked what changed after his strong opening rounds, Bell pointed to a punch that damaged his nose and limited him for the remainder of the fight.
“He caught me in the nose. I couldn’t breathe,” Bell said to DAZN post-fight. “Second half of the fight, it was close on the first half, but he caught me with a good shot. I think he probably fractured my nose, so I couldn’t really breathe through my nose. After that it was just pretty much getting by, getting by and trying to steal as much as possible.”
Bell also believed the fight was stopped too quickly after Mason hurt him moments into the final round.
“I feel like it was too fast, man. Let me finish. It’s the 12th round. It was a hard fight. Let me go out on my shield,” said Albert.
Despite the disappointing finish, Bell held no bitterness toward Mason, praising the Cleveland native after the fight.
“I got nothing but love and respect for Cleveland, Ohio. Thanks for having me, my team. Much respect. We lose how we win, with class, humility and grace.”
Bell also backed Mason to continue collecting titles.
“I’ll be back, and I will be a world champion one day. So Abdullah, go take it all. No brothers in this. Do your thing. Get them all,” said Bell.
The defeat was the first of Bell’s professional career, dropping him to 28-1, while Mason improved to 21-0 with his 18th knockout and remained one of boxing’s fastest-rising young champions.
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