Floyd Schofield wants William Zepeda next if he beats Lucas Bahdi, with his father already forecasting a four-round stoppage of the Mexican pressure fighter. That is an ambitious projection before Schofield has secured his first world title.
“Zepeda is definitely who I want next. … That’s who I was going to call out and still going to call out after the fight,” Schofield told Chris Mannix. Floyd Schofield Sr. went further, arguing that Zepeda leaves too many openings and declaring: “Zepeda will get stopped in four rounds.”
Schofield faces Bahdi for the vacant WBA lightweight title this Saturday, October 10, in Chicago. A victory would give him a belt to bring into negotiations with Zepeda, making the proposed matchup more valuable than another contender callout.
Both fighters being represented by Golden Boy offers a practical reason to pursue it. The company could promote a unification involving two of its own fighters, with the winner emerging as a stronger attraction.
The competitive argument is less comfortable for Schofield than his father suggests. Zepeda’s pressure is built around making opponents work repeatedly, forcing them to defend, move, and return punches without long recovery periods. Finding openings against him is only part of the task. Schofield would also need to exploit them while managing the pace.
His knockout of Tevin Farmer showed how destructive he can be when an opponent gets caught early. It didn’t establish how he would handle Zepeda if the quick finish failed to arrive. Schofield Sr. acknowledges that facing Zepeda requires conditioning for 12 hard rounds, then assumes his son could end it in four.
There are also two immediate obstacles. Bahdi has his own chance to derail Schofield’s plans, while Zepeda has been ordered to defend against interim WBC champion Jadier Herrera. The proposed unification cannot simply be treated as available next.
Schofield naming Zepeda is a worthwhile challenge. Backing up his father’s prediction would require something considerably harder than identifying flaws on film: beating Bahdi first, then making Zepeda pay for those openings without being overwhelmed by everything coming back.
