LAS VEGAS —
Curmel Moton keeps crushing the competition, and the comparisons keep piling in for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. protégé.
Already billed to be a generational talent, the teenage lightweight phenom is also being pegged to be “the next so and so,” a natural notion and next step for any promising young fighter.
One specific comparison is that Moton could be the second coming of Gervonta Davis, another hard-hitting knockout artist Mayweather groomed and took under his wing as a promoter.
Moton (8-0, 6 KOs) has studied past greats such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Aaron Pryor and Mayweather, and cosigns superlatives that he’s considered the total package.
“I need to live up to it,” he said. “That's why I'm working hard in the gym every day. I want to keep growing, upping the competition and climbing the ranks to get my title shot.
“I wouldn't say I like the comparisons, but people are going to make them. I'm going to keep making my name with each fight. I'm just me. I'm Curmel. I'm not Tank. I'm not 2.0 to nobody.”
Moton’s comments came following his most recent win, a dominant shutout unanimous decision win against Renny Viamonte (4-2-1, 2 KOs) on Saturday at Mandalay Bay.
“I give myself a 7 out of 10 overall,” said Moton. “It was a solid performance. I feel like I did good. The guy was durable and came to fight. He was not a pushover. Guys like that are hard to get out when their whole objective is to survive. He was just moving after the third round and trying to stay in there. I feel like he definitely respected my power. I wobbled him a few times. He was game and a decent fighter.”
Moton fought on the untelevised portion of the PBC on Prime Video card headlined by
Caleb Plant’s shocking loss to Armando Resendiz. It was 4 in the afternoon, and Mayweather was sitting ringside, rooting for him and offering advice.
“Floyd kept telling me in the corner to be patient and pace myself and not rush in for the knockout,” said Moton. “I was trying to just box. I got a lot of experience from it.”
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan