‘An active boxer is a better boxer’; so goes the saying. Curmel Moton, for one, seems to believe in the adage. Come Saturday, he will enter the ring for the third time this year. Making his dream come true, he will face his opponent, Victor Vazquez, on the undercard of his mentor and guide, Floyd Mayweather Jr. The undefeated former champion returns to the ring for a rematch with John Gotti III.

The card happens at the Arena, CDMX, in Mexico City, and features some impressive fights. It will be the first time the young boxer will step out of the comforts of his homeland to face a foe, returning to the ring after a break of nearly three years.

In the lead-up to their big bout, let’s explore how Curmel Moton and Victor Vazquez are stacked against each other.

Curmel Moton vs. Victor Vazquez: Career Stats Showdown

Curmel Moton, who turned 18 on June 4 this year, stands 5 feet and 7 inches, or 170 centimeters tall. On the other hand, Victor Vazquez has a height of 5 feet and 10 inches, or 178 centimeters. Unfortunately, details of both boxers’ hand-reach remain unavailable. Likewise, both fighters have yet to go through the final weigh-ins, as far as current weights are concerned.

For the Carolina, Puerto Rico-born Vazquez, who will turn 29 on October 29, the last weight details pertain to 2021. However, during his last fights against Nikolai Buzolin, Curmel Moton weighed 133.5 pounds.

Curmel Moton commenced his professional journey on the back of a hugely successful amateur career. On September 30, last year, he debuted on the Canelo Alvarez–Jermell Charlo title fight card. The Salt Lake-born boxer has thus far participated in four professional bouts, all ending in triumphs. Except for one, all his fights were secured through early stoppages, lending him a knockout-to-win rate of 75%.

Some clarity is needed as far as Victor Vazquez’s amateur record is concerned. Nevertheless, the Yonkers, a New York-based fighter, began his professional boxing journey in March 2014. Till his last matchup, which took place on January 30, 2021, the fighter had competed in 16 bouts, where he emerged victorious in 11. Only 5 of his wins came via knockouts. However, he was stopped early in three of the five losses which he suffered. Victor Vazquez’s knockout-to-win rate stands at 45.45%.

Curmel Moton vs. Victor Vazquez: Who has the upper hand?

Given the kind of buzz surrounding him, to most fans, Curmel Moton might be the heavy favorite to win. He has been making news, right from the time, he knocked out Oregon-born Ezequiel Flores in the first round of their fight. Two months later, after the pro-debut, he entered the ring again on the David Benavidez vs. Demetrious Andrade card. Just like the previous bout, this one against Hunter Turbyfill also ended up in the first round.

Four months later, Curmel Moton returned to the Tim Tszyu–Sebastian Fundora PBC-Prime mega event. It was an eight-round contest, and Anthony Cuba forced Moton to walk the whole distance. But by July, the Floyd Mayweather Jr. prodigy was ready and knocked out Nikolai Buzolin in the second round. Before leaving on a long break, Victor Vazquez had also secured a win over Efrain Felix. But the first-round technical knockout victory came after two back-to-back defeats, he suffered in 2018.

Clearly, he enjoys an upper hand in terms of experience; nevertheless, Vazquez’s career story has been that of intermittent breaks alongside the losses. So the obvious question in the minds of most would be the impact of ring rust on his performance. At the opposite corner, Curmel Moton has been impressively active since his debut.

Now, let’s explore their fighting styles. Given he is relatively young, it would be too early to assign Moton any particular style. It is bound to change, and, as some might opine, it should change. However, a close review of his bout displays two consistent attributes – power and speed. Like his mentor, Mayweather Jr., Moton is also quick on foot. But he turns himself into a lethal force by adding strong and rapid-fire combinations. Not to forget, he receives guidance from one of the greatest boxing minds in history.

Not many details are available about how Victor Vazquez takes on his opponents. However, a short clip of his 2017 fight with Faziliddin Gaibnazarov is available on YouTube. Though he managed to knock down the Uzbek boxer, Vazquez ultimately lost when Gaibnazarov’s left-right combo dropped him. Nevertheless, from the footage, it appears he prefers going all out in fights, often facing the foes in pockets.

Thus, in all probability, fans could be in with a thrilling 6-round contest before getting to see the Mayweather Jr.-Gotti III showdown.

Between Curmel Moton and Victor Vazquez, who is your favorite to win on Saturday night?