Even at 92 years old and having spent parts of seven decades in boxing, Bob Arum arrives at ringside in time for the first fight on his promotional company’s undercards.

The Top Rank Inc. founder, oftentimes in essentially empty venues, enjoys watching his prospects progress during the developmental phases of their careers. None of them have intrigued Arum more over the past couple years than Abdullah Mason.

The 19-year-old southpaw from Cleveland improved to 12-0 and recorded his 10th knockout Thursday night, when the talented lightweight beat Benjamin Gurment by second-round knockout. The fast-handed, intelligent, patient, powerful Mason dropped Gurment (8-1-1, 5 KOs) twice during the second round before referee Harvey Dock stopped their scheduled eight-round bout on the Teofimo Lopez-Jamaine Ortiz undercard at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.

“This kid Abdullah Mason, what a performance he put on [Thursday] night,” Arum told BoxingScene.com. “He’s the best I’ve seen being so young. All I hope is that all these guys that are loitering around 135 [pounds] go in different directions, because I’d hate to put ‘em in with each other. Maybe that’s what I’ll have to do. But I think in Mason’s case, he’s so young he’ll probably end up a middleweight.”

Mason, who is managed by James Prince, signed with Top Rank when he was just 17 after winning various amateur tournaments at the Junior Olympic level.

One of the other top prospects to whom Arum referred is unbeaten lightweight Emiliano Vargas. A son of former junior middleweight champ Fernando Vargas, Las Vegas’ Vargas is 8-0, including seven knockouts, and is scheduled to encounter Nelson Hampton (10-8, 6 KOs) in a six-rounder on the Oscar Valdez-Liam Wilson undercard March 29 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

Another of Top Rank’s promising prospects, Brooklyn’s Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (10-0, 6 KOs), is set to battle Bernard Torres (18-1, 8 KOs) in a 10-round bout on the O’Shaquie Foster-Abraham Nova undercard Friday night in The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Mason, meanwhile, figures to be scheduled soon enough for his 13th professional fight after he made such quick, easy work of Gurment.

“He’s unbelievably poised,” Arum said of Mason. “And he’s such a nice kid. He says the right things. He’s poised in the ring, comes from a good family. So, when people ask why I get to the fights for the first fight, that’s the reason, to see these guys like Mason develop from their first fight. Now he’s fighting eight-round fights, and he’s still only 19.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.