LAS VEGAS — Fledgling teenage fighter Curmel Moton reiterated his desire to fight Leigh Wood when speaking to ProBox TV this week.
"I definitely still be looking forward to fighting Leigh Wood," he told us before starting a midweek training session at the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas.
Moton made one of the most anticipated pro boxing debuts of the entire year when he finished Ezequiel Flores inside a round at the T-Mobile Arena on September 30.
Alongside his mentor Floyd Mayweather and promoter Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Moton then spoke to a packed media room as reporters gathered for the aftermath of the box office bout between Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Jermell Charlo.
It was a unique experience for the 17-year-old who, despite his 18 national amateur championship wins, was suddenly thrust into the spotlight.
Moton told us he'd never "been in a media room like that" but enjoyed the experience.
"It was great," he said. "A lot of publicity. I want to thank Floyd for doing that for me."
It is not just Mayweather and Ellerbe who sing Moton's praises as the generational talent Shakur Stevenson, of Top Rank, hailed Moton at a media day ProBox TV attended last week.
Stevenson sparred Moton once for six rounds and compared his skills to Naoya Inoue, which is something Moton touched on at the post-event press conference last weekend.
"All these champions saying these things is [because] they've seen me," said Moton.
"Shakur's been in the ring with me so he knows what I bring. And Floyd has been in the gym and seen me spar. He's worked with me, trained, so he knows, too.
"As far as the press conference, what I said about Inoue — I saw a lot of comments there was like saying why am I calling Inoue out after my debut [but] I wasn't calling him out," Moton said.
"I was basically saying by the time I'm his age, I plan to be a better fighter than him, more successful. It was nothing about Inoue. I just made my debut. Respect to Inoue," he added. "He's a great champion — one of the best pound-for-pound."
Through a smile, Moton also said: "I would like to fight Leigh Wood, though."
Wood, meanwhile, returns to the ring Saturday for a defense of his WBA world featherweight championship against Josh Warrington at the Sheffield Arena in England.
Moton is expected to compete in his second pro fight in the coming month or two.
