Seventeen-year-old junior lightweight phenom Curmel Moton will be featured on the undercard of the March 30 show headlined by Tim Tszyu and Keith Thurman at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe told BoxingScene.com in an interview.
The standout amateur sensation and Floyd Mayweather-protege Moton (2-0, 2 KOs) made his pro debut in September and scored a first-round stoppage win. He followed up the first win of his promising career with another first-round knockout in November.
“He’s most definitely fighting March 30,” said Ellerbe. “He’s a tremendous young fighter. We’re expecting major, major things of him moving forward. He’ll be very busy this year. He’ll be a world champion within a year.”
There are lofty expectations for Moton to be the next burgeoning star of the sport and Mayweather’s stable. The Las Vegas-based Moton won’t turn 18 years old until June 4, but he already has aspirations of a seasoned veteran that match the goals Ellerbe and Mayweather have set for him.
Moton said after his pro debut on the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez-Jermell Charlo fight that he felt he was already ready to fight two-time world featherweight champion Leigh Wood.
Many respected voices have affirmed that Moton certainly has the makings of becoming a star. Shakur Stevenson has labeled Moton as “the truth” and compared him stylistically to Naoya Inoue, while esteemed trainer Bozy Ennis has said Moton is going to be a fighter to be reckoned with.
Moton is certainly not short on confidence either. Before his pro debut, he promised to become one of the best in the world and even said he’d be better than the four-division champion and pound-for-pound star Inoue.
“You have to give Floyd the credit. Floyd is a genius in understanding what star talent looks like,” said Ellerbe. “Floyd has been working with the kid since he was little and has done a phenomenal job building his amateur career, and timing-wise with turning pro. I’m just excited to roll up my sleeves and do my job.
“Most definitely [Moton will be the next best star with Mayweather Promotions]. He’s a top fighter right now. We had enough confidence in him to put him in a title fight for his first fight, if we could have done that. He’s just an exciting young talent who’s getting better and better every fight. He has the best team in boxing.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.