Curtis reached the final, and on 5 May he beat Victor Bowyer to lift the Amateur title.
[2] Curtis turned professional in 1968 moving up a weight division to bantamweight and joined Benny Jacob's boxing stable.
Curtis won his first professional fight on his third attempt, beating Johhny Fitzgerald on a points decision at Coleston Hall in Bristol.
He followed this up with a second points win, defeating Irish boxer Sammy Vernon at the National Sporting Club.
The match, held in Cardiff on 2 July 1969, went the full ten rounds with the decision going to Curtis, making him the new Welsh bantamweight champion.