Floyd Schofield has bigger names looking his way, and he’s looking their direction, too.
Lightweight prospect Floyd Schofield laid waste to Ricardo Lopez in just one minute, 51 seconds last night in Houston, dropping his over-matched opponent four times inside of two minutes to earn a TKO win.
But with an increasingly notoriety as a top young fighter comes attention from fellow fighters, and Joseph “JoJo” Diaz had already said he wants to fight Schofield (16-0, 12 KO) next.
Post-fight, Diaz laid into the 21-year-old fighter.
“Shut your ass up, I’m ready to make it happen next, you getting spoon fed,” Diaz Tweeted. He tagged Golden Boy and Oscar De La Hoya, along with manager Rick Mirigian, hoping to make the fight in January.
“Y’all quit playing with me like I ain’t a 2012 Olympian, world champion, this boxing is easy for me,” he continued. “Been doing it for years. 2024 I’m going to show the world I’m one of the best. See you soon, Kid Austin.”
Schofield didn’t seem too stressed in his post-fight press conference, calling out the entertainment value of both JoJo and Shakur Stevenson.
“I’ve seen a couple fighters already hating on Twitter, but that’s just pure hate,” he said. “I did what I had to do. My fight was more entertaining in one round than their whole fight, so — I’m talking about Shakur, JoJo, yeah.”
As Schofield fights at 135 lbs, a fight with Diaz could be tough to make. The 31-year-old Diaz hasn’t actually made that weight since his Dec. 2021 loss to Devin Haney, fighting at 137½ to lose to William Zepeda, 139½ to lose to Mercito Gesta, and most recently, 141½ in a win over Jerry Perez on July 8.
Diaz was meant to return in October, but was pulled from the card with “COVID-like symptoms.”
Diaz, though, shouldn’t be ignored as a threat to a young fighter like Schofield, who has faced no one really near Diaz’s level, even the Diaz we’ve seen more recently than his proper peak days. He’s tough, crafty, and like he notes, very experienced.
If that fight does get made, do you think Schofield shows out, or would Diaz give him serious trouble?
Far less likely to happen, at least for now, is a fight with the called-out Shakur Stevenson, who holds the WBC title. Stevenson is a Top Rank fighter (his deal expires in 2024) and one of ESPN’s key main event guys, so any bout would have to take place on a Top Rank card, or wait for Shakur to make a move away from the company.
