Abdullah Mason will battle the heavy-handed Jeremia Nakathila in a 10-round chief support bout on ESPN on the Undercard if Keyshawn Davis vs. Edwin De Los Santos on June 7th at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.
This would have been a great choice for Mason to fight seven years ago when Nakathilia was knocking everyone out like clockwork and was in his 20s. But he’s now 35. He suffered second-round knockout losses to Raymond Muratalla and Ernesto Mercado and looked hellishly bad in both fights. Jeremia also lost a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision to Shakur Stevenson by the scores 120-108 x 3. Nakathilia has been picked to ensure Mason isn’t beaten or dropped repeatedly.
A Step Down?
Earlier today, Floyd Schofield Sr. said they’d been offered the fight against Mason (18-0, 16 KOs). He accepted the fight, but wanted $2.5 million for his son, Schofield Jr. That would have been a better fight for Mason, 21, but Schofield’s asking price was obviously too steep. That explains why the 35-year-old Nakathila (24-4, 21 KOs) has been chosen. It’s too bad Top Rank couldn’t negotiate the fight for Mason against Schofield. That would be a good enough matchup to kick the Keyshawn Davis vs. Edwin De Los Santos fight off the main event.
Keith Idec broke the news of the Top Rank-promoted Abdullah Mason fighting the veteran Jeremia Nakathilia on the Keyshawn-De Los Santos card on June 7th.
Fans on social media aren’t too pleased with the pick of Nakathilia for Abdullah, seeing it as a duck job with avoiding the more dangerous unbeaten Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs). It’s hard to get excited about seeing this as an option for Mason.
If you follow boxing and saw how Muratalla and Mercado blew Nakathilia out of the water in two rounds in 2023, this just looks like a well-vetted opponent to ensure Abdullah wins. It looks great in the eyes of casual fans who aren’t aware of this being a cherry pick.
It’s good for Mason to be active, but now that his opposition is low-level guys like this. Mason got a scare last year against Yohan Vasquez on November 8th. He was dropped twice by Vasquez in the first round, and might have been knocked out if this guy hadn’t injured his leg. Since that fight, Mason has been matched in consecutive contests against weak opponents with no power.
Stunted Growth
It’s excellent that Top Rank is carefully matching Abdullah to develop him, but he won’t get better if he’s fighting these kinds of opponents. He might have stayed in the amateurs because he’d be fighting better opposition and would be developing truly.
Fighters that turn pro early, like Mason, don’t do themselves justice, especially when they’re with a promotional outfit that matches them in a way to create plastic records like the one Edgar Berlanga has when he was with Top Rank. Sixteen first-round knockouts were a red flag that Berlanga wasn’t being developed. Now, we’re seeing the same thing with Mason.
Last Updated on 04/16/2025
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