LAS VEGAS: Talk of Curmel Moton's pro debut is intensifying.
The 17-year-old is an 18-time national amateur champion, has the backing of Floyd Mayweather and Leonard Ellerbe, and has been the talk of Las Vegas fight culture for some time.
He will, with Mayweather Promotions, turn pro at a show in the coming weeks at a yet-to-be-finalized event.
Timing, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, is everything "and the timing is right for him to turn pro now," Pro Box TV's source said.
Nevada is one of the few states in the US that permits 17 year olds to box as professionals. Other states require the athlete reach 18 years of age before they can crossover from the amateur system.
"Floyd has had his eye on Curmel since he was a kid, five years old," the source said. "Floyd has a good relationship with his family and has been a major supporter in his amateur career.
"Floyd Mayweather discussed a debut with Curmel, and with his family, and they all agreed the time to turn pro is now."
Though not on a par with Vasiliy Lomachenko and Anthony Joshua, as both had Olympic gold medals behind them, Moton's pro debut may be one of the most anticipated for quite some time due to the athlete's pedigree as an amateur and the regard that he is held in regionally in Southern Nevada.
At Mayweather Promotions, he also joins a burgeoning roster of young guns that includes 20-year-old Jalil Hacket (7-0), who is Gervonta Davis' preferred sparring partner, and 18-year-old Robert Meriwether III (4-0), who made his US debut at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, last year.
