Superscript numbers refer to the Blotter Notes at the end of this program.
⚑ Blotter Flag · Narrative Spine
Gervonta Davis was placed in Champion in Recess status on June 26, and the WBA's answer was to order its No. 1 and No. 2 contenders into the same ring. Both are unbeaten. Neither has fought in more than a year: Schofield is 15 months out, Bahdi 13. One of them leaves Wintrust Arena with the belt.
Five Rounds Down, One Punch Left
Lucas Bahdi has one documented way to beat a boxer who is beating him: wait. Floyd Schofield has said publicly that he knows the plan. Whether knowing it is enough is the fight.
Floyd Schofield is 19-0 with 13 knockouts, 24 years old, and the WBA's top-ranked lightweight. His father, Floyd Sr., is his trainer. He had 180 amateur wins and multiple national titles. The professional résumé carries three marks. He stopped former IBF 130-pound champion Tevin Farmer in 78 seconds on June 28, 2025. In December 2024 he went 12 rounds for the first time against Rene Tellez Giron, won on cards of 118-109, 116-111 and 118-109, and was knocked down for the first time in his career late in round 11. And in February 2025 he withdrew days before a planned fight with Shakur Stevenson, hospitalized with an illness.
Lucas Bahdi is 20-0 with 15 knockouts, 32 years old, from Niagara Falls, Ontario, and he took the long way. He was a three-time Canadian champion and a 2016 Olympic alternate, turned pro in 2019, and won his first 11 fights by knockout. He paid for his early career himself. At 9-0 he fought in Cuernavaca, Mexico with no coach in his corner and a hand broken in camp, broke the other hand in round one, and still got the knockout. On July 20, 2024 he stopped Ashton Sylve, then 11-0 and 20 years old, in round six after trailing for five. Since then he has won three decisions covering 32 rounds: Armando Casamonica, Ryan James Racaza and veteran Roger Gutierrez, the last on August 23, 2025.
The tape is close. Schofield is 5'7" to Bahdi's 5'9", with a one-inch reach edge to Bahdi (67 and 68 inches). Both are orthodox, though Schofield switches. The real gaps are eight years of age and hand speed. The 2024 Sylve fight is the template for how Bahdi wins: he lost the early rounds, his coach told him he would get Sylve late, and he landed the shot.
Schofield told DAZN's Chris Mannix, "I just think that they're hoping I just jump in and he gets the same moment he had with Ashton." That is a fighter who has studied the film. The record complicates it. Against Tellez Giron, The Ring reported, he was rocked in round three, went back to the jab in round four, and later said, "I wanted to give the fans a show." He was dropped by a left hook after absorbing a right hand. In another interview he said, "I feel like I just give the fans the aggression side. I don't think they get to see me actually box." Whether that changes after 15 months out is a claim, not evidence. Neither man has lost, so neither has been stopped, and the upset path runs through one clean shot.
Floyd Schofield
BUILDING
Eight rounds at round nine or later: four against Tellez Giron in his only 12-rounder, plus two each in 10-round wins over Haskell Rhodes and Alberto Mercado. If the jab is still working at round nine, the question is answered.
Lucas Bahdi
MODERATE
Eleven rounds at round nine or later: four against Gutierrez (UD12), one in the round-nine stoppage of Jesus Amparan, and two each against Casamonica, Racaza and Diego Fabian Eligio. He has been through the late rounds more often, but never against a faster man.
Floyd Schofield
UNVERIFIED
One data point, and it is mixed. Rocked in round three against Tellez Giron (Dec 2024), he went back to the jab in round four, then was dropped in round 11 after trading. The right tool, then a relapse. That is the open question, not a rating.
Lucas Bahdi
TIER II · 2024
Against Sylve (July 2024) he lost five rounds without changing the plan and executed it when the opening came in round six. The plan is the plan.
How This Gets Scored
Decision Risk: MEDIUM
Judges weigh four things in order: clean, effective punching; effective aggression; ring generalship; defense. Schofield's speed and volume score well on the first. Bahdi's single counters score only if they land clean, and a round he spends waiting looks like a round he lost. Close rounds tend to tilt toward the better-known fighter, which is Schofield.
The judges are Glenn Feldman, Ed Kanner and Rocky Young, per Golden Boy's announcement. The referee had not been announced when this program was built.
Score it yourself: if Schofield is still boxing off the jab at round six, it is his card. If he is in the pocket by round five, start giving Bahdi rounds. If the jab is still working at round nine, the late-round question is answered.
Both men are on the Blotter's prospect watch, and both are looking to cross over. This is not a flashy fight, but it is the kind real boxing people watch for direction: which of these two is built for the top of the division? We are not asking for a label. We are asking whether a viewer can see three things. He wins the late rounds, seven through twelve, against a live opponent. He solves a problem mid-fight instead of repeating what is not working. And he does both against a ranked, unbeaten opponent on a major platform. It is possible that neither answers it. This program says so if that happens.
Three Things To Show · Schofield
Can he hold the plan for twelve?
1. The distance. He has been 12 rounds once, and it ended with him on the canvas. Watch rounds seven through twelve, and whether the jab is still working at nine.
2. The discipline. His corner told him not to brawl with Tellez Giron and he traded anyway. Watch the first clean shot Bahdi lands: does he reset or trade?
3. The schedule. Fifteen months out, after the February 2025 Stevenson withdrawal. Watch how he looks in round one.
Three Things To Show · Bahdi
Is Sylve a method or an event?
1. The method. One shot after five lost rounds. Watch whether he creates openings, with feints, the body and pressure, or only waits for one.
2. The rounds. Three decision wins since Sylve, and no knockout. Watch whether he is winning any round without the big shot.
3. The stage. His first title fight. Watch whether the moment changes his rhythm.
How the result reads
- Schofield wins clean, jab alive late: the question is answered. The next test is a top-of-division name.
- Schofield wins but is hurt or dropped again: he has the belt and the question stays open. The thesis becomes "fragile when he trades."
- Bahdi wins inside the distance: Sylve was not an accident, and the method is confirmed twice.
- Bahdi wins on the cards: he answered the harder question, that he can win rounds without the one shot.
Camp Signal · Schofield
Friday's Scale
Schofield missed on his first attempt at 135.6 and made 135 on the second. Bahdi weighed 134. The agreed fight-night limit is 145. Schofield said Bahdi's camp wanted 147; Bahdi's management denied it. Weight Discipline Check6: an anomaly, not a pattern. We found no earlier miss.
Ring Rust · Both
15 Months and 13 Months
Schofield is 15 months and 12 days since Farmer (June 28, 2025). Bahdi is 13 months and 17 days since Gutierrez (August 23, 2025). Neither took a tune-up.
Chin Report · Both8
One Knockdown Between Them
Schofield has one knockdown in 19 fights (round 11, Tellez Giron). We found none against Bahdi in the sources reviewed. Neither has been stopped.
Promotional Friction · Both
Golden Boy and MVP
The fight is a Golden Boy–MVP co-promotion. The WBA ordered a purse bid, then granted an extra week to negotiate, and the two sides made the fight.
📋 Amateur Thread — Two Roads
Schofield: 180 amateur wins and multiple national titles. Bahdi: three-time Canadian champion and a 2016 Olympic alternate. We found no shared amateur history between them and no verified sparring history, so this program does not claim one.
PFORI — How Their Beaten Opponents Fared1
Floyd Schofield
| Opponent | Since losing to him | Score |
|---|
| Tevin Farmer | W-KO2 over Parejo | +3 / 1 |
| Haskell Rhodes | 9 fights: 4 stoppage wins, 1 decision win, 3 decision losses, 1 RTD loss | +5 / 9 |
| Alberto Mercado | 5 straight losses (3 stoppages, 2 decisions) | −13 / 5 |
| Rene Tellez Giron | Four fights; methods not yet confirmed on BoxRec | Not scored |
| Lopez Torres, Leon | No fights since | Not scored |
Total: −5 over 15 fights = −0.33
Lucas Bahdi
| Opponent | Since losing to him | Score |
|---|
| Ashton Sylve | 3-0 (Lugo TKO5, Galaviz Hernandez UD8, Diaz UD10) | +7 / 3 |
| Armando Casamonica | W-SD12 Metonyekpon, L-RTD5 Jon Fernandez, W-UD6 Yaya Kone | +1 / 3 |
| Roger Gutierrez | L-TKO6 to Dzmitry Asanau (June 2026) | −3 / 1 |
| Jesus Amparan | Two fights; methods not yet confirmed | Not scored |
| Ryan James Racaza | No fights found | Not scored |
| Diego Fabian Eligio | Not checked | Not scored |
Total: +5 over 7 fights = +0.71. Without Sylve: −2 over 4 = −0.50.
Read: Schofield's list is neutral. Rhodes and Mercado aged as journeymen, and Tellez Giron, his best win, is still active. Bahdi's list is carried by Sylve alone.
Blotter Call · Main Event · Lean
FLOYD SCHOFIELD — DECISION
Speed, the jab and switch-hitting give Schofield the better route over twelve rounds, and Bahdi's signature win came after he trailed for five rounds. Neither man has been stopped, so a finish is the less likely path. LEAN, not stronger, because the 15-month layoff, the weigh-in and the trading history are real. The Call breaks if Schofield is in the pocket by round five, or starts chasing when Bahdi is hurt.
Ricardo Sandoval
27-2 · 18 KOs · Montclair, CA
Orthodox · 27 · Stoppage rate 67%5 · Won the WBC and WBA titles by split decision over Kenshiro Teraji on July 30, 2025, after being knocked down in round 5. Lost a majority decision to David Jimenez, knocked down in round 11. Golden Boy. Two inches shorter than Mendoza.
vs
Sergio Mendoza
27-1 · 23 KOs · Hermosillo, Mexico
Southpaw · 26 · 5'8" · Reach 67.5" · Stoppage rate 85%5 · His only loss was a round-2 stoppage by IBF 108-pound champion Thanongsak Simsri in Tokyo on April 13, 2026. U.S. debut.
Mendoza is on the card because Oscar Collazo is not. Golden Boy announced Collazo's withdrawal on September 18, about three weeks out, and FightMag cited a rib injury in training. Galal Yafai, a planned June 6 opponent, also pulled out injured. Records for both men come from secondary sources and have not been checked against BoxRec. The question is whether the Teraji win was a platform or a peak. Sandoval has been down against Teraji and Jimenez, and he now faces a southpaw who has stopped 23 of 27 and was stopped himself in April. Crisis Execution Rating: UNVERIFIED for both; neither fight has been reviewed round by round. Watch the opening rounds for the southpaw's lead hand against Sandoval's entry.
Blotter Call
RICARDO SANDOVAL — DECISION · LEAN
Sandoval has the bigger wins and more pro rounds (167 to 115, per the WBC), but Mendoza's power keeps any round live, and it is his U.S. debut.
The Undercard — Fighters to Find
Nine bouts, two windows. The DAZN card starts at 8 PM ET with Rivera, then Harvey, the co-main and the main event. Five prelims start at 4:00 PM ET, also on DAZN. Calls run on the DAZN card only; the prelims are scouting notes. The Blotter is looking for direction here, not just winners.
Jan Paul Rivera
16-0 · 7 KOs · Puerto Rico
WBO Youth champion · Stoppage rate 44%5
vs
Perfecto Valdez
14-2 · 9 KOs · Mexico
Stoppage rate 64%5
Sources disagree on Rivera's record (15-0 and 16-0), his age (23 and 25) and the spelling of his opponent's name. The figures above are the majority view and have not been checked against BoxRec. Rivera's 44% stoppage rate marks him as a boxer more than a puncher. The test is whether he can keep that style honest against a man who has stopped 64% of his opponents.
Blotter Call
JAN PAUL RIVERA — DECISION · LEAN
Unbeaten and a boxer by record; the risk is that his opponent has the higher stoppage rate.
Jahmal Harvey
4-0 · 3 KOs · Maryland
23 · 2021 World Championships gold · 2023 Pan Am gold · 2024 Olympian (won his round of 16 in Paris by a 3-2 decision over Luiz Gabriel Oliveira) · MVP
vs
Pedro Castaneda Castro
9-1-1 · 5 KOs
Super lightweight by BoxRec, inactive, career 2019–2025 · His one loss came by knockout
Harvey brings the pedigree: a world champion as an amateur and an Olympian at 23. His fifth fight is his first scheduled for eight rounds, against an opponent who is inactive and moving down from super lightweight. What matters is whether the amateur skill shows up as rounds banked and a clean performance over the distance.
Blotter Call
JAHMAL HARVEY — DECISION · LEAN
The pedigree and the activity gap favor Harvey, but eight rounds is new territory and his opponent has been stopped only once.
The Blotter Spotlight — Prelims
⚡ Scout's Chair — The Fighter You Need to Know
Grant Flores
13-0 · 9 KOs · Thermal, CA (Coachella Valley) · 21 · Orthodox · Trainer: Robert Garcia
Grant Flores turned pro on February 23, 2023, at 18, and he is 13-0 at 21 with nine knockouts, a 69% stoppage rate.5 Golden Boy describes an "aggressive, fan-friendly style and knockout power." In his last fight, on March 14, he knocked down Rashid Stevens three times on the way to a unanimous decision (77-72, 78-71, 79-70). He has now gone eight rounds twice, against Courtney Pennington and Stevens.
Tonight he steps up in length and in danger. He faces Mikey Dahlman, 19-2 with 17 knockouts, 34 years old, from Chicago Heights, in his first scheduled ten-rounder. Dahlman has stopped 89% of his wins, and he is the home fighter. But both of his losses came early: round 2 against Fidel Monterrosa Munoz in April 2022, and round 1 against Michael Zerafa in August 2025. He is a puncher who has been hurt in the first two rounds, and those are the rounds that matter.
The question is whether Flores can turn a good eight-round résumé into a ten-round win over a dangerous veteran in his backyard. Watch the first two rounds, whether he boxes behind his height (listed at 6'1" to 6'2") or trades, and whether he can finish a hurt man. A stoppage or a dominant decision moves him toward a ranked opponent. A decision after being hurt, or a loss, turns the file into a question about his chin and his corner's plan. We could not find his amateur background, so this program prints no number.
Grant Flores
13-0 · 9 KOs · Thermal, CA
Orthodox · 21 · Stoppage rate 69%
vs
Mikey Dahlman
19-2 · 17 KOs · Chicago Heights, IL
34 · 5'11" · Stoppage rate 89% · Lost by R2 stoppage (Monterrosa, April 2022) and R1 stoppage (Zerafa, August 2025)
As a prelim, this bout gets scouting notes and no Blotter Call.
Tristan Kalkreuth
17-1 · 12 KOs
24 · 6'4" · Reach 79" · Listed at 198 lb · Latest win: TKO6 over Marco Antonio Canedo (May 2026)
vs
Ivan Rosado
12-0 · 9 KOs · Puerto Rico
5'11" · Listed at 176 lb · Only seven of his bouts are documented in the sources we reviewed
Rosado gives up about five inches and 22 pounds on the listed numbers. His unbeaten record rests on thin data, so the Blotter is watching to see what it is made of. No Call on a prelim.
Naomy Valle
15-1 · 9 KOs · Costa Rica
Sister of boxer Yokasta Valle
vs
Sheyla Moreno
5-1-1 · 1 KO
Fewest fights of the pair
We have not researched this bout beyond the records, so we do not rate it. No Call on a prelim.
Flagged · Prelim · Super Bantamweight · 8 Rounds
Asa Stevens
7-0-1 · Waianae, HI · 25 · Southpaw · 5'5" · vs. Cristian Williams (14-0, 8 KOs)
Stevens won gold at the 2018 Youth World Championships and the 2019 National Golden Gloves, and signed with Golden Boy as a teenager; Oscar De La Hoya predicted he would reach the top of the division. Eight fights in nearly six years is not that path. He has five decision wins and two stoppages, a split draw with Alvarado in April 2025, and he has not fought in 18 months. This is the card's best fit for the real grind: a once-hyped amateur whose climb stalled.
Williams is 32, from Chicago, and unbeaten at 14-0, but we could not verify his opposition. Stevens needs a clear win, not just a win, and he needs to look like the fighter he was projected to become.
Status: Flagged · Tonight's condition: a dominant win on the cards or better · Threshold: a second win against verified opposition
Also Flagged · Heavyweight · Prelim · 8 Rounds
Joshua Edwards
Edwards is 7-0 with six knockouts, 26, from Houston, 6'3". He won the 2023 Pan American Games super heavyweight gold, lost his Paris round of 16 by a 3-1 decision to Diego Lenzi, and has been with Golden Boy since January 2025. Three of his seven wins ended in round one. His opponent Craig Lewis is 15-9-1 with eight knockouts, so this is a scouting note, not a test. What would earn a formal entry is a win over an opponent with a winning record.
Environment Analysis · Wintrust Arena
Floyd Schofield: Trained by his father, Floyd Sr. Golden Boy fighter, based in Austin. Chicago is a neutral site. Camp signal: the scale on Friday.
Lucas Bahdi: MVP fighter, based in Niagara Falls. Chicago is neutral for him too. His trainer is not confirmed; Schofield says he changed trainers.
Cash-Out Test: Why now? The WBA ordered its No. 1 against its No. 2 after Davis went into recess. Who benefits? Both promoters. Does the résumé justify it? Yes: No. 1 against No. 2, both unbeaten.
- PFORI scores how each beaten opponent fared afterward: decision win +2, knockout or TKO win +3, draw 0, decision loss −2, knockout or TKO loss −3. The raw total is divided by the number of fights since. Opponents with no fights since, or with methods not yet confirmed, are reported but not scored.
- Championship Round Bank counts rounds nine and later actually fought, weighted by the opposition. Three tiers: DEEP, MODERATE, BUILDING. Counts come from Wikipedia round tables, with partial rounds counted as full, and have not been rechecked against BoxRec.
- Crisis Execution Rating rates how a fighter performs when a fight turns hard: TIER I, TIER II, TIER III. UNVERIFIED means the fighter has not been in a fight that turned hard enough to rate.
- Judge's Chair is a plain-language scoring breakdown. Decision Risk is the likelihood of a genuinely contestable scorecard: LOW, MEDIUM or HIGH.
- Stoppage rate is knockouts divided by wins. Schofield: 13 of 19 (68%). Bahdi: 15 of 20 (75%). Sandoval: 18 of 27 (67%). Mendoza: 23 of 27 (85%). Rivera: 7 of 16 (44%). Perfecto Valdez: 9 of 14 (64%). Flores: 9 of 13 (69%). Dahlman: 17 of 19 (89%).
- Weight Discipline Check separates a single anomaly from a pattern of missed or struggled weigh-ins. One scale reading is an anomaly.
- Fighter Environment and the Cash-Out Test weigh the setting, the promotion and the timing of a fight. The Cash-Out Test asks why now, who benefits, and whether the résumé justifies the fight.
- Chin Report reflects knockdowns and stoppages in the records we reviewed. It is a durability record, not a prediction.
