Joe Cordina is out of his July 4 fight with Abdullah Mason after visa issues removed him from the card. Albert Bell steps in for the main event in Cleveland, changing the opponent and the style of the matchup on short notice.
That fight was set to put the 34-year-old Cordina in a challenge for Mason’s WBO lightweight title, with the bout headlining a DAZN-streamed card that was also slated as the first fight of a simulcast deal with TNT.
Albert Bell Takes the Opening
Bell, 33, arrives with a 28-0 record and 9 knockouts. The Toledo fighter had been training for an IBF lightweight eliminator against Andy Cruz on July 18, so the switch sends him from one title-path assignment into a different one with very little notice.
That change matters because Bell is not a like-for-like replacement. The article described him as a much different stylistic matchup from Cordina, which means Mason now has to solve a new opponent while the July 4 fight keeps its title-level stakes.
Mason Keeps the Main Event
Mason, 22, still brings a 20-0 record with 17 knockouts into the bout. The WBO lightweight title remains attached to the fight, so the card’s centerpiece stays intact even after the late change in opponents.
For readers who were planning around the original matchup, the practical takeaway is simple: the date and the title setting stay the same, but the opponent profile does not. Bell replaces Cordina on a card built around a championship fight, and that is the adjustment the July 4 fight now runs through.
