PicoBlog

“He is beating everyone up in the gyms,” confided someone to me.

“You should do a video with him,” said another.

Curmel Moton is the most talked about American fighter, who isn’t an Olympian in some time. With coach Bobby McRoy live streaming the backstage events of Moton’s second fight that was somehow off-television, the feeling is simple. A lot of people look at Moton’s build, frame, aggression, and relationship to Floyd Mayweather and see Gervonta Davis 2.0.

Sure, the fame comes from a Floyd Mayweather endorsement, but it appears Moton is doing what the Mayweather Gym has lacked since Floyd’s retirement. Moton appears to be the face of the gym for the new generation. Since Floyd left boxing, people have trained at the Mayweather Boxing Gym, but who has taken ownership of it? Well, it seems now it is Moton.

You can never fully trust the boxing media as the promoter’s investments and window dressing often construct the reality of many narrative shapers. Yet, Moton is a fighter who has Las Vegas excited. Moton and J’hon Ingram seem to be two fighters people truly believe in.

Moton won 18 amateur national tournaments but opted to turn pro rather than stay in the USA Boxing system. Not unlike Kumar Prescod, Moton’s birthday falls short of being able to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. Yet, Moton has been in the gym forever. Rolly Romero introduced me to Moton back in 2018 and referred to him as ‘The Champ.’ Moton is beloved in the Mayweather Boxing Club because of his longevity from a young fighter as one, but two, he might be the last fighter to come up under Floyd Mayweather to remember when Floyd was still training in the gym.

Moton though is not what you might think. He is not a backfoot boxer. Moton is an all-gas, no brakes pressure fighter. One who at a certain point might have to ease back on his aggression at the next level. Moton might get compared to ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd, but Moton is a brilliant counterpuncher in a similar sense to Julio Cesar Chavez. We just have diminished to a certain degree how great Chavez was, so some readers might see that as an insult.

Moton is sparring the best in Vegas. His team enters the gym before him with branded apparel and it feels like a big deal. Moton is setting the stage to be a big name in the sport - now comes the thing all great young fighters have to face - life. The age-old question of - is alcohol delicious? Are the temptations of girls too much? With success early on comes mortality.

Moton is the most interesting prospect in some time because people who don’t watch undercard fights and in my opinion, only watch the big names in the sport, are tracking his career. Sure, it is probably a calculated investment, but even then - that is interesting. He has the it-factor promoters try to force upon us.

At an early age, people want to see Curmel Moton fight even if it is against overmatched opposition. This isn’t normal. We have seen fighters in the past get these pushes, but the talent often doesn’t match the hype. With Moton, it does. Add to it, he is a word-of-mouth guy like Jorge Linares. So the older fans get callbacks to fighters of the past whereas the younger fans, see him as a relatable, cool figure to follow. Not unlike what Devin Haney did by investing in the internet, not unlike Justin Beiber.

With Moton, being heavily affiliated with Premier Boxing Champions, and the PBC landing a new network deal soon. It would be more than likely that the PBC will put Moton front and center in the years to come.

This past weekend Moton won his second pro fight via stoppage. I have yet to see any of his pro fights as they are being recorded on cell phone videos and not boxing telecasts which I still find weird. Moton has fought the ‘walk-out’ bout after two major pay-per-view cards to start his career. Moton is beating up solid club pros early in his career, which is extremely promising as most fighters want five-to-six fights before facing that opposition.

Now, we just have to see how life unfolds around him.

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