By Charles Brun: Promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr. wants WBA featherweight Leigh Wood to give a title shot to his prospect Curmel Moton (0-0) in his first fight in the pro ranks.
It would be a sad statement about the sport if a prospect with no Olympic experience and zero fights as a pro is given a crack at a world title in his first fight in the professional ranks.
Moton getting a title shot would ignite a firestorm of criticism towards promoter Eddie Hearn, Wood & Mayweather.
It’s unclear if Mayweather is serious about his interest in matching Moton against the 35-year-old Wood (27-3, 16 KOs) without him having to work his way to the position like normal fighters.
Mayweather has the money to get a title shot for Moton if he makes a huge offer to Wood, who will likely gladly agree to it as long as it’s in the millions.
Wood is pretty much done as a world champion and will soon be dethroned if or win he defends against his WBA mandatory Otabek Kholmatov.
It’s believed that Wood will vacate his WBA 126-lb title if he successfully defeats Josh Warrington in their business-level fight on October 7th.
Warrington is coming off a loss and has a record of 1-2-1 in his last four fights, and he clearly doesn’t deserve to be fighting for a world title with that woeful record.
If Eddie Hearn is willing to make the Wood-Warrington fight, he might as well let little-known Curmel Moton get a shot as long as Mayweather makes it worthwhile with the money offer.
With Wood likely retiring soon, he’d probably jump at the chance to defend his WBA title against Moton if Mayweather waves enough green under his snoot.
The real question is will the World Boxing Association allow Wood to swerve his mandatory Kholmatov for a second time so that he can get some more coin? They’re already allowing Wood to fight Wood instead of his mandatory with the Warrington contest.
“Leigh Wood – I’ve got a 126-pounder Curmel Moton that would be a good match now. He’s turning professional. We take chances to be great. Eddie Hearn is a good businessman, and I’m a good businessman,” said Floyd Mayweather to Fighthype.
“Our guy is 0-0; we’ll take the fight. I’ll put all the money up for both sides. My guy’s 17; he’s destined to be great. Remember I told you that. Listen, we take chances to be great. All I’m saying is this, that’s a good match-up,” said Floyd.
