VERONA, New York – Coming off the longest layoff of his career, it was clear Curmel Moton was eager to make up for lost time.

Fighting for the first time since last May, the 19-year-old junior welterweight Moton never stopped punching, beating up the durable Wilfredo Flores to force a second-round stoppage in their scheduled 10-round fight Saturday here at Turning Stone Resort & Casino. The end came after the second round, when Flores remained in his corner, resulting in Moton moving to 9-0 (7 KOs).

Flores, of North Tonawanda, New York, dropped to 12-7-1 (5 KOs).

Moton started the fight with a quick pace, ripping crippling body punches to the body of the taller southpaw Flores. Moton’s left hooks, ripped with equal meanness to the head and body, kept Flores from circling out to his right, making him an open target for Moton’s power punching. Moton never stopped firing away, with each combination seemingly blending into the next. Flores was wobbled badly at the end of the second, and would have gone down if not for the ropes holding him up.

With his mouthpiece drenched in blood, Flores waved the white flag once the bell rang, leading to only the second-ever stoppage loss for the 36-year-old – and his first since a second-round TKO defeat against Gary Cully in 2023.

Moton, a Floyd Mayweather Jnr protege, has built a large following on social media thanks to his gym exploits at the Mayweather Gym in Las Vegas.

Earlier on the card, former amateur standout Shera Mae Patricio scored the biggest victory of her budding pro career thus far, defeating former titleholder Maribel Ramirez by unanimous decision in a six-round junior bantamweight bout.

The scores were 60-54 on one card and 59-55 on the other two, all for Patricio, 8-0 (3 KOs), of Waianae, Hawaii. Ramirez, 15-14-4 (3 KOs), a former WBA junior bantamweight titleholder from Mexico City, dropped her fourth straight in what was her first six-rounder in a decade.

After brawling for the first 30 seconds, Patricio returned to boxing, using her superior skills to score from the outside in the second. Ramirez was able to get to Patricio with looping shots and body punches, but Patricio was game to test her opponent, pushing her back with straighter punches that landed with greater accuracy. Patricio began to hurt the more experienced pro in the fourth, as digging left hooks to the body elicited groans from Ramirez and pushed her to the ropes. 

Patricio began to find success in the fifth with right hands thrown in exchanges, keeping her head off the line and catching Ramirez between shots. Angles also allowed Patricio to move in close, opening up Ramirez inside and landing body shots.

Despite the body work Patricio was able to do, Ramirez never stopped coming, making Patricio work to the final bell. Patricio’s superior left jab scored from the outside and opened up overhand rights. By the end of the fight, Ramirez’s swollen eye told the story of the fight.

Patricio, whose brother Lorenzo Patricio is on the U.S. national team, fell just short of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics, and was an 11-time national champion.

Rodrigo Mosquera III, 5-0 (2 KOs), of Las Vegas, scored two knockdowns against the tough Khalil Sanders, 1-2 (1 KO), in their four-round lightweight bout, winning a unanimous decision by scores of 40-34 on all three cards.

Brandon Poulard, 3-0 (3 KOs), of Laval, Canada, got things finished early, knocking out Charles Scott Jnr, 0-4, in the first round of their junior middleweight fight.

Local favorite Damiana Andrello, 2-1-1 (1 KO), of nearby Liverpool, New York, scored her second career win, outslugging the rangier Jessica Radtke, 2-4-2, of Victoria, Minnesota, scoring a unanimous decision by scores of 40-36 on two cards and 39-37 on the third.

In the opening bout, Katrina Scalzo and Michelle Cook settled for a draw in their four-round junior welterweight fight, with one judge scoring it 40-36 for Cook, 3-6-3, another scoring it 39-37 for Scalzo (who was making her debut) and the third scoring it 38-38 even.

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.