Thirty-Nine Wins, No Defeats, One Belt
Right then — here is a fight announcement worth getting excited about. Floyd Schofield and Lucas Bahdi will meet for the vacant WBA lightweight title on Saturday, October 10 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, live worldwide on DAZN. Two unbeaten men, thirty-nine wins between them, twenty-eight by knockout, and a world title for the winner. That is how you fill a vacancy.
The belt is empty because the WBA finally moved Gervonta Davis to champion in recess after his long stretch of inactivity and troubles outside the ring. Golden Boy and MVP did a deal to dodge the purse bid, tickets went on sale this morning, and just like that the lightweight division has a proper new main event.
Kid Austin Against The Prince
Schofield, 19-0 with 13 knockouts, has been talking about world titles since he was a teenager, and the American's hand speed is genuinely elite. This is the shot he has demanded for two years, and at 23 the timing feels right.
Bahdi, 20-0 with 15 knockouts, is the Canadian who produced one of the most chilling one-punch knockouts of recent years when he flattened Ashton Sylve — a finish that still does the rounds every time someone compiles a KO reel. The MVP man is the harder single-shot puncher in this fight, and everybody in Schofield's corner knows it.
Luke's Early Verdict
Let's not beat around the bush — stylistically this is a cracker. Schofield's speed and combination punching against Bahdi's timing and concrete right hand. Make no mistake, if Schofield gets careless once, he goes to sleep. But over twelve rounds I think the faster man banks rounds and boxes clever down the stretch. Schofield by decision is my early lean — full verdict come fight week. The October schedule is stacking up nicely: check the fight cards page, and remember we flagged Schofield as Tank's mandatory back in May.