By Vince D’Writer: In his first fight as the headliner, lightweight prospect Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield put on an impressive performance as he dominated his opponent Haskell Rhodes (28-5-1, 13 KOs) and earned a ten-round unanimous decision victory on Saturday night at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
The Golden Boy Promotions card that aired on DAZN was initially scheduled to feature Vergil Ortiz vs. Eimantas Stanionis, but after Ortiz feinted and was hospitalized, he withdrew from the fight.
Once the match was canceled, the Schofield-Rhodes bout was elevated from co-feature to the main event slot.
In the opening round of the fight, Floyd Schofield was very active as he used foot feints and established his jab. Midway through the first round, Schofield clipped Rhodes with a two-one combination, and then he proceeded to hit Rhodes with a flurry of shots.
After five rounds of action, Schofield was pitching a shutout. He won the first half of the bout by using his jab, being aggressive, and landing sharp combinations. Rhodes was trying to land something significant, but the 20-year-old Schofield appeared to be the faster, stronger, and the more skilled fighter.
In the 7th round of the bout, Schofield landed a left hook that sent the 35-year-old Rhodes down to the canvas. Rhodes was able to get up, but when the action continued, Schofield landed a flurry of shots that sent his opponent back down to the canvas for a second time.
After surviving the seventh round, Rhodes went down for the third time in the 8th round when Schofield hit him with a hard left hook to the body. Once again Rhodes was able to continue and make it out of the round.
In the 9th round, Haskell Rhodes landed his most impactful blow of the fight, but unfortunately, it didn’t come from a punch being landed. With 17 seconds left to go in the round, Rhodes charged in and connected with a headbutt to the side of Schofield’s face.
As a result of the headbutt, Floyd Schofield suffered a massive cut under his left eye. However, he was able to continue fighting, and at the end of ten full rounds, Schofield earned a unanimous decision victory as all three judges scored the bout 100-87.
During his post-fight interview, Floyd Schofield (15-0, 11 KOs) was pleased with his performance, but he also took a moment to acknowledge the toughness of his opponent. When asked about his boxing future, Schofield threw out the name of a fellow highly touted prospect.
“Keyshawn Davis… stop playing, send the contract, bro. Listen, look at me; I’m not playing. To the whole 135 division, it starts with Keyshawn Davis.”
Floyd Schofield and Keyshawn Davis became instant rivals due to the fact that they are both young top prospects in the talent-rich 135-pound division. Initially, Schofield wanted to fight Davis because he believes only one fighter should be recognized as the top prospect of a particular division.
Schofield’s desire to fight Davis would evolve into them trading competitive words via social media. During his interview with Texas Boxing Scene, Floyd Schofield Jr admitted the friendly competition became personal when Keyshawn Davis directed some of the trash-talking toward Schofield’s father.
Floyd Schofield says that his team is on board in regards to making the fight between him and Davis happen, but unfortunately, they haven’t received any formal interest from Keyshawn Davis and his team members.
