Phenom Curmel Moton mows down Nikolai Buzolin in Anaheim

Lightweight phenom Curmel Moton – a prodigy praised by Floyd Mayweather Jr., who also walked him to the ring Saturday – stopped Nikolai Buzolin in the second round on the undercard of the Nate Diaz-Jorge Masvidal fight at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Moton (4-0, 3 KOs), 18, of Las Vegas, who last fought in March and went the distance for the first time as a pro, defeating unbeaten Anthony Cuba in an eight-round fight, took a few minutes to feel out Buzolin before finding his timing.

Moton dropped Buzolin (9-9-1, 5 KOs), 36, of Brooklyn, New York, with a left hook to the body at the end of the first round. In the second round, Moton increased the pressure and output, with Buzolin fighting more to survive than to win. Moton’s punches became ferocious, forcing Buzolin to cover up on the ropes. Referee Jack Reiss waved off the fight.

Moton was added to the card the week of the fight.

Junior welterweight Amado Vargas (11-0, 5 KOs), 23, of Las Vegas, and the middle son of former titleholder Fernando Vargas, achieved the biggest win of his career by stopping Sean Garcia (7-1-1, 2 KOs), also 23, of Victorville, California, in a bout scheduled for eight rounds. 

Sean Garcia, the brother of Ryan Garcia, who accompanied him to the ring, was dominated from the start. Vargas, aggressive from the opening bell, took control in Round 1, leaving Garcia looking uncomfortable as he returned to his corner.

Despite Vargas’ wild technique, Garcia’s lethargic approach and inability to handle Vargas’ volume defined the fight. By the end of the third round, Garcia was visibly fatigued from Vargas’ relentless body attack. In the fourth, Vargas landed a well-placed shot that put Garcia on the ropes before dropping him with a brutal right uppercut.

Garcia, who missed weight by 3.2 pounds at the weigh-in, struggled with conditioning and could not withstand Vargas’ calculated body attack. Vargas landed a liver shot at the end of the fifth round that caused Garcia to grimace in pain as the bell sounded.

Referee Edward Collantes stopped the fight at 46 seconds into the sixth round after a slew of punches landed that were unanswered by Garcia.

Lightweight Devin Cushing (14-0, 10 KOs), 27, of Pensacola, Florida, won an eight-round unanimous decision over amateur rival Manuel Correa (13-2, 8 KOs), 33, of Miami, Florida.

Despite having lost to Correa as an amateur, Cushing demonstrated the improvement he had talked about all week, attributing his previous loss to being just 17 years old at the time.

Cushing’s jab was key to his victory, as it prevented Correa from landing effective punches, including keeping him from landing a single body shot. Fans, anticipating more excitement later on the card, booed throughout the fight.

Although the fighters exchanged harsh words at the press conference, the bout itself was methodical and cerebral, lacking the entertainment some had hoped for to start the pay-per-view event. Judges scored the fight 77-75, 78-74, and 80-72 for Cushing.

Welterweight Louie Lopez (16-2-2, 5 KOs), 27, of Corona, California, scored a shocking unanimous decision over Alan Sanchez (23-5-1, 10 KOs), 33, of Fairfield, California, in an eight-round bout.

The fight took a surprising turn when a head clash at the end of the second round opened a cut on Sanchez’s forehead. Despite the early dominance of Sanchez with his educated jab and solid body attack, Lopez battled back in the second half of the fight. The judges liked Lopez’s aggression, as all three judges scored the bout 77-75 in favor of Lopez.

In a clumsy heavyweight bout, 22-year-old Gabriel Aguilar Costa (3-7, 2 KOs) of Woburn, Massachusetts, knocked out previously unbeaten Steven Dunn (5-1, 5 KOs), 27, of Hollywood, California.

Costa weathered an early first-round flurry from Dunn, who seemed to lose steam by the second round. At 2 minutes and 50 seconds in the round, Costa delivered a decisive body shot that forced Dunn to take a knee, prompting referee Michael Margado to count out Dunn, who wasn’t able to get to his feet.

It was only the second time in his pro career that Dunn had faced a fighter with a win.

In a mild upset, 34-year-old junior middleweight Bryce Logan (1-0, 1 KO) of Phoenix, made a successful professional debut by defeating Jose Aguayo (1-2), 33, of San Ramon, California. Aguayo, a training partner of Nate Diaz, was stopped standing as veteran referee Edward Collantes called an end to the contest at 1 minute and 20 seconds of the third round. 

Junior welterweight Dan Hernandez (4-5, 2 KOs), 25, of Riverside, California, won a four-round unanimous decision over Luciano Ramos (2-5), 29, of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The judges scored the bout 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37.