AMERICAN boxing prodigy Abdullah Mason is looking to tear down former roofer Sam Noakes on his decent to stardom.
Mason is 19-0 with 17 brutal knockouts and the second youngest of his four brothers – all of whom box.
The team have been referred to as the Jackson five of boxing – trained by their dad Valiant – but Abdullah was the first to put on the gloves.
He told SunSport: “I started boxing at the age of nine, I got into it from my father.
“He had me and all my brothers doing like combat sports before we officially started boxing.
“Long story short, we had moved into a neighbourhood where there was a gym in that neighbourhood and we were overseas for a while.
“We were training while we were overseas, and when we came back from overseas, that’s when we moved into the neighborhood with the gym.
“And then he asked us all who wanted to get into boxing. I was the first one who showed actual interest and joined the boxing gym.
“I was nine years old at the time and then my brothers, they started coming in after that. And then it started from there.”
Mason’s family – originally from Ohio – spent time in Egypt and Yemen before moving back to the States.
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It was before his 13th birthday that Mason – a national amateur champion – first dreamed of going all the way in the sport.
He said: “I think I was like 12, and I was in the gym having a good strong training session with my brothers.
“We’ve been training pretty hard for about a good few weeks and I thought to myself like, ‘Man, I could really take this all the way.’
“If I take this serious and stay focused for however long it is, as long as I’m boxing, I can see myself keep getting better and better and better until I’m wherever I want to be in a sport.”
Despite growing up in a boisterous house full of boxers, Mason says the brothers never fought amongst themselves, instead inspiring each other.
He revealed: “It’s definitely a motivation. Some days I might want to chill for another hour or two, and they’d be ready to go to the gym right then.
“They’d be like, ‘Come on, man, let’s go.’ Or the other way around, it’s definitely a motivating factor though.
“We push each other and some days you don’t really feel like doing as much, they’re the ones that make you do what you do all the other days that you’re feeling good.”
Whatever I put my head to and whatever I make my goal to accomplish, I feel like I can accomplish that in the sport of boxing. So as long as I’m in it, I think I’ll be the best.
Abdullah Mason
Mason, 21, challenges for the vacant WBO lightweight world belt against Britain’s hard-punching Noakes, who has only gone the distance twice himself.
Kent’s Noakes, 28, spent his early boxing days roofing while he was not training and Mason credits the rise to a title shot.
He said ahead of Saturday’s DAZN PPV: “You gotta do what you gotta do, and before that, that’s what he was doing to make it happen for himself.
“He got into boxing and you see where his focus got him. He’s 17-0 with 15 KO’s, so you could see that he’s dedicated to it.”
Mason does not only have eyes on ruling the 135lb division – but also emerging as America’s next pound-for-pound great.
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He said: “Whatever I put my head to and whatever I make my goal to accomplish, I feel like I can accomplish that in the sport of boxing.
“So as long as I’m in it, I think I’ll be the best.”
