After that tough outing against Sam Noakes in November last year, which saw him stretched over twelve rounds, it became imperative for lightweight star Abdullah Mason to deliver a statement win. Tonight, at Cleveland’s Wolstein Center in front of his home crowd, he managed to meet that demand with a knockout win over Albert Bell.

Yet, for all his accomplishments, Mason’s latest feat has drawn scrutiny over the way the referee stopped the bout. Fierce backlash has emerged on social media, with many questioning the match official’s decision.

“THE REF STOPS THE FIGHT IN ROUND 12!!! 🤯🤯 Did he make the right decision??” a post from DAZN read, alongside a clip of the stoppage.

Those doubts stem from the sequence of events that unfolded during the final seconds of the last round. As the round neared its end, chaos erupted when Mason and Bell traded blows at close range. With Bell’s back on the ropes, Mason was throwing combinations relentlessly. Bell tried to avoid damage by slipping under the punches and locking himself against Mason.

As a result, the WBO lightweight champion’s left elbow appeared to hook over Bell’s back. A brief scuffle followed, where his position and possibly the weight of Mason’s elbow pushing down on him caused Bell to go down to the canvas. Noticing Bell on his knees, referee Mark Nelson waved his hands and stopped the fight, awarding Mason a TKO win. This resulted in massive backlash from viewers.

Some context matters here. Notably, the knockdown DAZN shared was the second one Mason scored during the twelfth round. Just a few minutes before, he had forced Bell on the ropes and, using combinations, dropped him down, leading to the referee awarding a knockdown. Bell, however, managed to beat the count and resumed the fight.

The exchange leading to the final knockdown saw Mason’s left connect neatly with Bell’s temple. “Another left on the temple, and he goes down,” the commentator remarked. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, it’s possible Bell went down under the weight of that punch instead of Mason shoving him down with his elbow.

But fans were not entirely happy with the outcome. With just a minute and 15 seconds remaining in the fight, some felt the bout should have been allowed to continue.

Social media explodes over referee’s stoppage in Abdullah Mason vs. Albert Bell

“A fight like that, you let that man die on his shield,” wrote one fan. “Also…it legitimately was a push down. Should’ve just let it carry on, not like he was in there taking so much punishment when Mason himself said he was showing a sort of mercy. Annnnd that ref never once warned about holding.”

The sentiment is understandable given how close the fight initially appeared. Most accounts gave Bell the first six rounds before Mason started taking control. While Mason was leading on the scorecards 106-103 and 107-102 (twice), Bell was acquitting himself well. As such, he could have been allowed to continue until the final bell, some believe.

The reactions continued to pour in. “I mean, was the second one even a knockdown? He put both his hands on his back and pushed him down? And on top of that the ref calls it a knockdown and, on top of that, stops the fight?????” another user stated.

“It didn’t even look like a knockdown that time so horrible stoppage. Yeah, I think Bell was losing, but boxing is getting really weird in these close fights. (The) same sh-t happened in Usyk vs. Rico,” said another. The Mason vs. Bell ending does seem to mirror the way Usyk’s last title defense against Verhoeven concluded.

After the Dutch former kickboxing champion gave him trouble, the Ukrainian champion scored a knockdown in the eleventh round before the referee intervened to stop the bout in controversial fashion with just a second left in the round.

“What an absolute joke of a fight,” a fan wrote bluntly. “Can you say ‘corrupt’ or ‘fixed’? This is exactly why I quit watching boxing bullsh-t like this. I watched tonight cuz there was nothing else on TV. This is a perfect example of how corrupt boxing still is.” While their views are subjective, instances such as the one that occurred today do tend to raise questions about the fairness involved in boxing matches.

Yet, not everyone was unhappy. To a few, the stoppage was timely and rather helped Bell get out of a dangerous situation. “Hell nah, good stoppage dude a– fave was bloody ova wit and looked like he was outta there. (The) ref did him a favor,” one stated.

The look of disbelief on Bell’s face when the referee held him while stopping the fight was apparent. But it was also not strong enough to suggest that he was protesting the decision.

The larger issue here is that, as it often happens in such cases, Mason vs. Bell will be largely remembered for a controversial ending in front of a home crowd rather than the way a 22-year-old rallied past a veteran.