CLEVELAND — It all started in a basement.
"We are in the room that I've trained in for this world championship fight. So this is my basement," said Abdullah Mason.
The 21-year-old professional boxer spent the weeks leading into the Nov. 22 World Boxing Organization lightweight championship fight training in the small space on the bottom level of his Cleveland home.
Abdullah thought about the fight in every moment of his training. From his morning runs or sparring sessions with his dad, Valiant, and his brothers, Amir, Adel, Abdur-Rahman and Ibrahim, who are also professional boxers.
In 2021, Abdullah debuted in his pro career. He started strong with a knock-out victory and has never looked back. Heading into his Nivemener fight, Abdullah was undefeated at 19-0, 17 of his wins coming by knockout and two by decision.
The southpaw's fight was his first main event. It put him in the spotlight and fast-tracked an already quickly advancing career after then-champion Keyshawn Davis was stripped of the belt after coming in over the lightweight limit, opening a door for Abdullah to challenge for the world championship at just 21 years old. His timeline may have surprised others, but Abdullah said he always knew it was a possibility.
"From the moment I turned pro, I felt like if I worked, stayed focused, this would be possible and for it to happen so soon, I feel like it played kind of right into where I was seeing myself," Abdullah said.
The fight was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, nearly 7,000 miles away from the basement Abdullah was training in.
There were challenges ahead, from the time change to the language barrier, but Abdullah remained focused on the task at hand.
Walking into the ring with a hometown nod, playing a remix of MGK's "Till I Die," Abdullah brought a piece of Cleveland to the fight with him.
Then, all of the work he put in back home was tested against his opponent, Sam Noakes.
The fight went the distance, lasting a full 12 rounds. Jabs and blows, uppercuts and hooks were exchanged between the two, but Abdullah felt confident every step of the way.
"Surprisingly to me, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be. I'm walking out and doing a walkout, wondering why I'm not getting as nervous as I usually would get, but I feel like that's because I did have a great preparation and I did have my corner and stuff behind me," he said. "Even just from the first round on, I kind of felt like I was on top, but my main thing was to make sure I stayed on top for the whole 12 rounds."
As the final round came to an end and both Abdullah and Noakes remained on their feet, the judges agreed with the Cleveland fighter's assessment of the match.
"And now the WBO lightweight champion of the world," the ring announcer said just before Abdullah's hand was raised into the air, "Abdullah Mason!"
A unanimous decision among the judges, Abdullah notched his 20th professional victory while claiming the title, making him the youngest world champion in men's boxing.
Back from Saudi Arabia, Abdullah donned his heavy leather championship belt, greeted at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport earlier this week by the community.
"Me hopping off the plane, everybody is supporting me as they always have been supporting me. It's a lot more congratulations, a lot more support, but one of the things that kind of stood out to me was there's a lot more people inviting me out to eat. I got people.[saying] 'I want to invite you here to this restaurant,' 'I want to cook for you,'" Abdullah said.
That support has led to Abdullah planning a thank-you, of sorts. He plans to host a community lunch to feed the city that had his back as he fought for the championship.
"I want everybody that's inviting me out, I want them to come eat with me. So there's an event that my people and I are planning, my team is planning for people to just come eat lunch with me. So I'll be putting details out as soon as I can," he said.
In the meantime, Abdullah has started moving his basement around, putting the couch back in, and eventually the TV where he'll watch his title fight for the first time since winning. He's already thinking of his next fight, which he hopes will be here in Cleveland and feature his brothers on the same card. Before that, he'll find a good spot for his championship belt, which he's undoubtedly proud of.
"The words 'world champion' stand out to me the most. That means I'm not just a champion in a country or in the region, but I've done what it takes to become the champion of the world," Abdullah said, looking at the belt.
It's a title that was hard-earned and now has found a home back in the room where it all began.
"Now I know I could be a world champion, or you could make a world champion, from a basement," he said.
