INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Lightweight prospect Floyd Schofield defeated Alberto Mercado by decision over 10 one-sided rounds at the YouTube Theatre.
All three judges scored the bout 100-89 for Schofield, who improves to 13-0, 10 knockouts.
Schofield, who resides in Austin, Tex., dropped Mercado early in the second round, landing a right hand to the head. Mercado was not visibly hurt and continued to fight on. Schofield measured Mercado as the round progressed, but upped his aggression to close the round.
During the third round, Mercado stayed in the pocket, at times catching Schofield, including landing a counter left hand to the head of the 20-year-old. Late in the fourth round, a right uppercut hurt Mercado. Schofield was on the attack as Mercado was sent reeling across the ring, but the bell sounded to end the round, preventing Schofield from dropping or finishing off Mercado.
Schofield would switch from conventional to a southpaw stance and back again to conventional during the middle rounds. He would catch Mercado with a left hand, but was not able to follow up with another punch or a combination. Schofield continued to fight from the outside, loading up at times rather than putting combinations together, during portions of the second half of the fight.
Schofield began walking Mercado down during the final three rounds of the fight, backing Mercado up. Schofield looked like he wanted to end matters during the final round. He landed punches flush to the head, but Mercado was able to take the punches well, despite having to deal with a right eye that was practically shut.
The win over Mercado was Schofield’s third fight under the Golden Boy Promotions banner. In his last fight on October 20, Schofield annihilated Daniel Rosas, winning by a vicious knockout in the first round.
Mercado, who resides in Humacao, Puerto Rico, drops to 17-5-1, 4 KOs. The 35-year-old has now lost four of his last six bouts, including fights against O’Shaquie Foster and Lamont Roach.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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