Power and potential: Moreu Jr. eager for his pro debut

Yoruba Moreu Jr., his manager Jacob Maes fervently believes, is a generational talent — possessing the potential to join his fellow New Mexicans Bob Foster, Johnny Tapia, Danny Romero, Austin Trout and Angelo Leo as a men’s pro boxing world champion.

He’s got it all, Maes said on Tuesday during a news conference/open workout staged at Jack Candelaria Community Center in advance of Moreu Jr.’s scheduled pro debut on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee.

“His style,” Maes said, ticking off the attributes that move him to feel the way he does about his 20-year-old client. “His attitude. His desire. His goals.”

Above all, “The skill and the power,” Maes said. “… He’s got the power and I’ve seen the power in the gym, knocking people out and down with headgear and 16-ounce gloves.”

Whether Moreu Jr. truly rates as a prospect in the same league with the above-mentioned five world champions is not likely to be established in Nashville. He’s matched against Ndira Spearman, a Tennessean who brings a 1-16 pro record into Saturday’s scheduled four-round, 122-pound bout. Spearman has been stopped short of the prescribed distance in 13 of those 16 losses.

Spearman wasn’t the first choice, but neither Maes, Yoruba Moreu Sr., his son’s head trainer, nor promoter Christy Martin had planned to throw “Little Ru” into the deep end in his pro debut.

The original opponent, Weusi Johnson (3-38-1), took a fight in South Carolina on July 19, got knocked out and is under suspension until mid-August.

Promoter Martin turned to Spearman, Maes said, because she needed someone who already was licensed to fight in Tennessee. “Over there,” Maes said, “you have to be licensed (by the Tennessee Athletic Commission) at least seven days before the event.”

Because of Spearman’s record, Maes said, the Tennessee Commission reduced Moreu Jr.’s bout from six rounds to four. Moreu Sr. had wanted a six-rounder for his son’s debut, aware from his research that Tapia had been held to a four-round draw in his 1988 pro debut (though against an opponent with a 6-1 record).

Moreu Jr., in any case, chooses not to worry about circumstances beyond his control — whether his opponent’s record or the duration of the bout.

“Not my problem,” he said. “… At the end of the day, we’re playing the cards we’re dealt.”

The power

Moreu Jr. didn’t display exceptional punching power as an amateur, fighting with 16-ounce gloves and against opponents wearing headgear. In 50 amateur bouts listed for him on boxrec.com (nowhere close to a complete list), only one of his victories came via stoppage.

The power that has so excited Maes, Moreu Sr. said, is due partly to natural growth and partly to specific work done in the gym.

“We’ve been working on him sitting on his shots since Golden Gloves (Moreu Jr.’s final amateur competition in May 2024),” the elder Moreu said. “Lee Sillas (the coach at Albuquerque’s Power Plant Boxing) has been doing his strength and conditioning. We’ve been working on his core and his legs.

“I brought in (longtime Albuquerque trainer) Manuel Anaya to have him relax with his shots instead of tensing up … that’s made a big difference with the impact of his shots. It’s devastating when he lands clean; a couple of guys can attest to that.”

The southpaw thing

Moreu Jr. is a left-handed fighter in the New Mexico tradition of Trout, Holly Holm, Fidel Maldonado Jr., Bloomfield’s Elija Martinez, MMA fighter Steve Garcia, et al.

Yet, he’s naturally right-handed.

It was Tapia, he said, who persuaded him to go lefty as he was just beginning his amateur career.

Tapia (a right-hander), Moreu Jr. recalled, watched young Yoruba shadow-boxing right-handed and encouraged him to make the switch.

“He said, ‘If you want to be a world champion and want to go far and take (boxing) seriously, you want to go left-handed,’” Moreu Jr. said. “From that day, I’ve stood left-handed.”

His natural right-handedness, he said, adds oomph to his right hook.

Jos in Germany

Las Cruces amateur boxer Joscelyn Olayo-Muñoz must wait until Thursday to make her debut at the Brandenburg Cup International Tournament in Frankfurt, Germany.

The competition is to begin Wednesday, but Danny Melendrez, Olayo-Muñoz‘s stepfather and head coach, said there was not a full complement of entrants in her 106-pound bracket.