In a recent Instagram post, lightweight prospect Floyd ‘Kid Austin’ Schofield (16-0, 12 KOs) announced that a potential fight between himself and Joseph ‘Jo-Jo’ Diaz (33-4-1, 15 KOs) is “canceled.” Schofield went into it further and said, “The day he overpriced himself because he do not want to really fight. We are still fighting mid-March @daznboxing. This is going to be a great card. These top 10 guys are scared to fight. It’s only a matter of time I will have all the belts #truth.”
The rumors that were going around were that Schofield was going to be fighting Diaz in March after the two “agreed” to a fight on social media through their verified accounts. The matchup would test the young Schofield to see if he was ready for the next level of opponents. After Schofield’s first-round stoppage of Ricardo Torres in December, the brass at Golden Boy were impressed, which fueled the potential for a Diaz fight to become a reality.
Diaz last fought in July against Jerry Perez, earning a ten-round unanimous decision victory. Although Diaz is only 31, he hasn’t looked as sharp and is just outside his physical prime. A fight with Schofield would give Diaz some momentum again, but it would be high risk as a loss would place him further back in the line of contenders for a world title.
The mid-March date Schofield mentioned is a card that looks to be headlined by William Zepeda vs. Maxi Hughes, as first reported by ProBoxTV. Could this be a play to put more pressure on Diaz to sign the contract? ProBoxTV will continue to monitor this story as it develops.
