Curmel Moton’s ascent stalled when the 18 year old lightweight came in significantly over the agreed 133lbs catchweight limit, leading to the postponement of his six-round fight with Bryan Mercado at ACX1 Studios in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Moton weighed in at 148.7lbs during Friday’s weigh-in, prompting Swift Promotions, linked to the former titleholder Danny Garcia, to call off Saturday’s fight. Moton was at least 14lbs over the target weight.
“The decision to postpone the fight was made in the best interest of all parties involved,” said a spokesperson for Swift Promotions via a written statement from the promoters. “While we are disappointed to delay this event, our priority is ensuring that both Curmel and his opponents are set up for the best possible competition. We appreciate the continued support of Curmel’s fans and the boxing community, and we look forward to announcing his return to the ring soon.*
Moton, from Las Vegas and unbeaten at 6-0 (5 KOs), is riding a three-fight knockout streak and had planned to close out the year with another dominant performance. His inability to make weight raises questions, particularly since he fought as a junior welterweight in October but successfully made 131¼lbs in August.
Mercado, 30, holds a record of 11-6-1 (6 KOs). It remains unclear what the Ecuadorian weighed in at, because theor weigh-in was not streamed live, and available footage only shows Moton’s missed attempt.
“I want to apologize to everyone that was planning on coming to Jersey to watch me fight,” said Moton. “I’ve been going back and forth with the commission about my bloodwork passing, and as of right now, they lost my blood in their system [which meant the fight was unlikely to be sanctioned].
“I’ve known this for the past three days, so there was no point in killing myself to make [the] weight. They still made me weigh in for some reason, and they decided that was the reason they were going to cancel the fight.
“Regardless, I’ll be back in Japan on December 30th [at the potential exhibition involving Ryan Garcia]. See you all there.”
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