When Curmel Moton was only six years old, his father Curtis introduced him to boxing.

Moton Snr then moved his family from Utah to Las Vegas with the intention of his son emulating the great Floyd Mayweather in mind.

Moton has looked up to Mayweather from a young ageCredit: Curmel Moton – Instagram

Mayweather’s near-unrivalled success, and the extent to which he crossed over into popular culture, made the influence he relishes inevitable.

It also meant that attempts to imitate him continue to take place far and wide.

Devin Haney has modelled himself on Mayweather to such an extent that they have close-to identical mannerisms.

Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis is a vastly different fighter to once was Mayweather, and yet was so often described as his ‘protégé’ on the grounds that Mayweather was once his promoter and that they were therefore close.

Increasingly, however, it is Moton, one of the world’s finest young fighters, who is promising to follow most in Mayweather’s footsteps.

“I’m working hard on improving every day and definitely sharpening my skills,” the featherweight said, sounding like he has learned from the fighter whose discipline complemented the natural talent that for a decade made him the world’s best.

“I’m all around the board, working on everything. In this sport, you know what it takes.

“You’ve got to dedicate yourself. It’s a lifestyle, not just a sport.

“Believing in myself, listening to my team, dedicating myself and working hard. It’s not that hard.

“My dad makes sure I stay on the right track. Without him, it’d be more difficult, but I know what I want to do. I don’t want to let anyone down. I know I need to focus. I want to be a world champion one day, so I’m on the right track.”

For a long time Gervonta Davis was seen as Mayweather’s protégé, but he’s decided to go his own wayCredit: Curmel Moton – Instagram

Moton is now the young man with TBE’s backingCredit: Instagram – Curmel Moton

It was between Mayweather’s victories over Zab Judah and Carlos Baldimir in 2006 that Moton was born.

He was less than a year old when Mayweather defeated Oscar De La Hoya and less than two when he defeated Ricky Hatton; the victory over Shane Mosley followed before Moton’s father, a professional barber, first showed him videos of how Mayweather boxed.

Leonard Ellerbe, of Mayweather Promotions and influential in the careers of Mayweather and Davis, recently said that he and Mayweather aspire for Moton to join Wilfred Benitez as a rare teenaged world champion.

Ellerbe, a particularly partisan observer of boxing, even claimed that he has already attempted to make a fight between the talented American and the featherweight champion Leigh Wood.

“You don’t need 18-19 fights [to fight for a title], like when Floyd was coming up,” Ellerbe said. “All these guys he’s sparred say [Moton’s] the real deal.”

Among those Moton has sparred are Davis, Shakur Stevenson, Richardson Hitchins, Kenneth Sims and the Cuban Robiesy Ramirez.

“I was 15 or 16 when I sparred ‘Tank’,” said Moton, recalling what followed a phone call from one of Davis’ team.

“We went to the gym real late at night, too. It was fun and I was ready for him.

“The only thing he had me on was strength, but skill-wise, and speed-wise? We were back and forth. I had a lot of fun in that spar and learned a lot.”

Moton is 4-0 (3 KOs) in his pro career so farCredit: Ryan Hafey/PBC

Moton was eight when he first visited Vegas’ Mayweather Boxing Club, and he observed Mayweather’s preparations for his fight in 2015 with Manny Pacquiao, which remains the richest of all time.

“I was just studying him and watching how he did his camp,” Moton reflected in 2024. “Not long after that, I started training at the gym and started sparring some of the kids they had in there.

“I whupped on them. Word got back to Floyd. I become cool with everyone around the gym, and then I started going to tournaments and bringing [belts] back to the gym.”

Mayweather is said to have one day saw Moton carrying those belts, called him to his car, and handed him a hat. He then started sponsoring him in tournaments, and paying for the flights he’d need to attend them.

When he was later asked what made Moton stand out to him Mayweather responded: “Hunger. Hunger – he wanted to be great. He’s boxed so many different champions throughout the years, even as an amateur. I just want the best for him, but, so much talent.”

Mayweather is invested in Moton, and it is perhaps relevant that he clashed with Davis when Davis became increasingly successful, but on another occasion when asked about Moton he responded: “If given the opportunity, he could be the next Floyd Mayweather.”

In the years after that first meeting, Moton built a reputation as one of the amateur boxing circuit’s most precocious teenagers. His record before he turned professional in September 2023 read 61-3.

The combination of he and Mayweather appears to have all of the focus, and therefore potential, lacking in the chaotic partnership that has long existed between Ryan Garcia and the similarly marketable De La Hoya, Mayweather’s long-term rival.

“My dad moved me to Vegas because he always wanted me to be a boxer and he knew that out there in Utah there was no big boxing scene so he moved us to Vegas and took me to the gym,” Moton once explained.

“I fell in love with it. He decided to make it happen and to build our lives around boxing.

“This is really all I know. I have always felt comfortable in the gym. If I miss a day training, I won’t feel right. It has been like that since the very beginning. I’ve always wanted to do it and make it my life.”

Moton will take his next step as a fledgling young professional this weekend.

He is already 4-0 and set to have his fifth professional fight against Victor Vazquez on the undercard of Mayweather’s latest exhibition fight, a rematch with John Gotti III, in Mexico on Saturday night.