GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) – Guyana’s world-rated bantamweight boxer Leon Moore has signed a lucrative two-year promotional contract with the Asia-based Top Rated International Boxing Promotions in Bangkok, Thailand.

Currently holding a world ranking of No.6 with the World Boxing Council (WBC), Moore is expected to have his first bout with his new promoters in Thailand in mid-November.

“A few of their promoters came to the Caribbean and saw him fight and they had the best offer for promotional rights for Leon,” Carwyn Holland, Moore’s manager told CMC Sport yesterday.

His contract with TR International, Holland says, is set to earn Moore fight purses of up to US$30 000.

“He will be fighting for purses between US$10 000 and US$30 000 with this contract.”

Top Rated International holds television rights for the popular HBO network and the deal with Moore carries TV rights for the entire Caribbean and parts of South America.

Holland retains managerial control of Moore and says the deal is designed to steer the gifted 30-year-old towards a shot at the 122-pound World Boxing Organisation (WBO) super-bantamweight crown.

“It’s a two-year deal with an agreement for four fights per year, which will include a world title fight under the WBO,” Holland added.

“I am (still) his manager, they are just promotional,” Holland stated.

Already the Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) champion, Moore added the World Boxing Association’s FedeLatin, FedeCaribe and North American Boxing Association (NABA) belts to his log last month with a victory over Colombian Mauricio Pastrana in Guyana.

Moore, the only English-speaking Caribbean-based boxer with a World Top-10 ranking, is scheduled to leave Guyana on October 21 for a three-week camp in Thailand where he is scheduled to face Japanese boxer Kenichi Yamaguchi in a non-title bout in mid-November.

Moore boasts a solid record to 25 wins (22 knockouts) against two losses, and Yamaguchi, undefeated in his last 13 fights, has 15 wins (4 knockouts) against one loss and two draws.

That bout is earmarked as a warm-up for Moore before he faces the highly ranked Sod Looknongyangtoy, of Thailand, who is ranked No.5 in the world by the WBO.

Looknongyangtoy is unbeaten in his last 16 fights and his ring record stands at 42 wins (18 knockouts) against two losses and one draw.

TR International’s target for Moore is the WBO title, currently held by Puerto Rico’s Juan Manuel Lopez.

As part of the contract, Holland has negotiated that one of Moore’s four annual bouts in the contract will be staged in the Caribbean to ensure that his international appeal can be used to help boost professional boxing, which is struggling in the region.

“We wanted to make sure the deal benefits the Caribbean. Leon is our brightest star so if we should send him off it would leave us without any real star here and we would have to build someone else. That’s why I pushed for a deal like that.

“The next time he fights in the Caribbean, it could be in Guyana, Barbados or St Lucia,” Holland stated.

Moore aims to become the fifth Guyanese man to win a world boxing title, after Andrew Lewis, Wayne Braithwaite, Vivian Harris and Gairy St Clair