Mason to defend against Bell after Cordina denied visa to come to U.S.
135 titlist will now face fellow Ohio native in Cleveland homecoming
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WBO lightweight titlist Abdullah Mason has a new opponent for his first defense: fellow undefeated Ohio native Albert Bell.
Mason was scheduled for a Cleveland homecoming fight against former two-time IBF junior lightweight titleholder Joe Cordina in the main event of a Top Rank card on July 4 (DAZN, TNT, truTV, 8 p.m. ET) at Cleveland University’s Wolstein Center.
But Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told Fight Freaks Unite on Wednesday that the company was notified on Monday night that Cordina (19-1, 9 KOs), 34, of Wales, was denied a visa to travel to the United States.
“Apparently, a criminal issue serious enough to deny entry,” Moretti said, although he did not have any specifics about what the issue was. Cordina promoter Matchroom Boxing did not respond to a request for the details.
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Cordina posted a video to social media about the situation but did not offer any details as to the reason he was denied.
“There’s no injuries because I’ve seen a load of things (on social media). There’s no injuries,” Cordina said. “I’ve had a great camp. I was meant to fly over this week. Couple of days back I went to the U.S. embassy in London and they basically denied me a visa. I tried to explain certain things and I had all the paperwork to back it up and they wasn’t having it. They basically told me, ‘You ain’t getting in,’ so it’s out of my hands. I’m gutted because it’s my chance to become a three-time, two-weight world champion plus fight for a world title in America, which was a goal of mine. Absolutely gutted.”
So now Mason (20-0, 17 KOs), 22, who is the youngest active male world titleholder — he was 21 when he won an action-packed and highly competitive unanimous decision over England’s then-unbeaten Sam Noakes to claim the vacant title on Nov. 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — will face Bell (28-0, 9 KOs), 33, of Toledo.
“We are disappointed about the denial of Cordina’s visa at this late stage,” Moretti said. “Obviously, this was something that wasn’t expected or foreseen.”
It sure wasn’t given that Cordina’s last fight in December took place in Stockton, California, where he outpointed hometown fighter Gabriel Flores Jr. and had no issues getting a visa to travel to the U.S. for that bout.
Bell, who recently signed with TGB Promotions, was scheduled to fight Andy Cruz (6-1, 3 KOs), 30, a 2020 Cuban Olympic gold medalist fighting out of Miami, in an IBF lightweight title eliminator for the right to become the mandatory challenger for Raymond Muratalla on the Matchroom Boxing card on July 18 (DAZN) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Matchroom Boxing won the purse bid for the bout and placed it as the co-feature to the fight between super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco and Immanuwel Aleem.
But in need of an opponent for Mason, Top Rank went to Matchroom Boxing and made a deal to pay the company a fee to release Bell from the agreement. Now Bell gets a title shot instead of a title eliminator and Matchroom Boxing is looking for a new opponent to face Cruz, although the bout will no longer be a title eliminator.
“Bell certainly presents a different type of challenge for Mason’s homecoming title defense,” Moretti said, noting that Bell is a pure boxer compared to the more come-forward style of Cordina.
But Bell will also face a different style in the southpaw Mason compared to the right-handed Cruz he was training for.
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Mason photo: Leigh Dawney/Queensberry
