LAS VEGAS – If lightweight prospect Curmel Moton isn’t quite ready for prime time, he is certainly earning all the air time he has received in his early career.
Not that he has needed much of it. Moton, who was moved into the preliminaries broadcast portion of Saturday’s David Benavidez-David Morrell Jnr undercard at the last minute, made fairly quick work of Frank Saldiva, overwhelming him for a third-round stoppage win here at T-Mobile Arena.
Moton, 7-0 (6 KOs) a dazzling 18-year-old prospect from Salt Lake City who now trains out of Floyd Mayweather Jnr’s gym in Las Vegas, notched his fourth consecutive stoppage – and his sixth career finish inside three rounds.
But by comparison, Saldiva, 5-2 (3 KOs), was a slow-burner. A Cuban southpaw with a strong amateur background, Saldiva seemed to give Moton pause as he tried to find his way in during a quiet first round. But Moton began uncovering the angles in Round 2, putting in body work and landing left hooks, an uppercut and a hard right hand.
Saldiva put up more resistance than past Moton opponents, letting his hands go and landing a sharp left hand that stood Moton up straight – but also only seemed to convince him to get down to business. He immediately stalked Saldiva and began unloading. First up against the ropes and then pinned in the corner, Saldiva was taking on heaps of leather and not throwing back, prompting referee Harvey Dock to step in and call it at 1:51 of the third.
“I’m only 18 and I’m growing a lot,” Moton said after the fight. “I’ve definitely noticed my body has changed, too. I’m getting stronger and stronger, and I’m learning how to place my punches better and better. So I feel like, as time goes on, I’m gonna be getting a lot more knockouts.”
In earlier preliminary action, Jose Benavidez Jnr broke down Danny Rosenberger for a fifth-round stoppage in a scheduled eight-round middleweight fight.
Benavidez, 29-3-1 (20 KOs), from Phoenix and the older brother of headliner David Benavidez, got back in the win column for the first time since August 2023 – and only the second time since 2018. Rosenberger, of Youngstown, Ohio, fell to 20-9-4 (10 KOs).
Additionally, Milwaukee’s Daniel Blancas, 11-0 (5 KOs) outpointed Juan Barajas, 11-0-2 (7 KOs), of Victorville, California, in a super middleweight eight-rounder; San Antonio’s Gabriela Tellez, 4-0 (1 KO), edged Abril Anguiano, 4-1 (2 KOs), of Garland, Texas, for a majority decision in a featherweight six-rounder; and John Easter, 8-0 (7 KOs), of Las Vegas, was taken the distance for the first time but earned a unanimous decision over Portland’s Joseph Aguilar, 6-3-1 (3 KOs) in a super middleweight six-rounder.
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at and followed on and .