PROSPECT WATCH: ZAQUIN MOSES By Ruth Raper
T here is a version of this story that writes itself: the kid who grew up in the shadow of a four-division world champion, riding his famous cousin’s coattails into the paid ranks. Spend 10 minutes talking with Zaquin Moses, and that version falls apart fast. The 21-year-old junior lightweight, unbeaten in seven pro fights and closing in on an eighth, doesn’t sound like someone riding anyone’s coattails. He sounds like someone hungry for success, eager to prove he belongs at the very top of the sport. The fact that he happens to share a bloodline with a pound-for-pound superstar, Shakur Stevenson, is almost beside the point. “I don’t remember the age, but I remember being in my grandfather’s living room,” Moses said, tracing his first steps in the sport. “I was a young kid, and he was just teaching me, giving me pad work. Then it was me and him and Shakur. He
taught me boxing for real, at a young age.” Understandably, the narrative of Moses’ young career tends to lean on his cousin’s success. But before Shakur made his name, before Zaquin signed with Matchroom, before the undercards in Philadelphia, Las Vegas and Atlantic City, there were two cousins on a living room floor, learning the fundamentals from the same source. That grandfather is Wali Moses, who trained both Shakur and Zaquin from the beginning and remains Zaquin’s coach today. He puts the starting point even earlier. “About when he was 2, 3 years old,” Wali said. “You start the developmental process at home. It’s not long after you can walk and run and catch.” Wali boxed himself and doesn’t hesitate to make the connection to his grandsons’ abilities. “Did I compete? Of course,” he said. “Where do you think they got it from?”
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