Who's Next for 'Kid Austin'? Three Names on Floyd Schofield's New WBA Dance Card

REPORTED · Rumor-Meter: see each pick below

Fresh belt, fresh gossip. On Saturday, Floyd Schofield beat Lucas Bahdi by unanimous decision (116-110, 119-108, 115-111) at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago to win the vacant WBA lightweight title. (Boxing News, Oct 12) Now everyone wants to know who's holding the next ringcard.

1. Gervonta "Tank" Davis: the open invitation

RUMOR · COLD 🔵 Oscar De La Hoya told Fight Hub TV: "This is boxing, the best have to fight the best. If Tank comes back, let's make Tank Davis. Why not? I was a fighter, man. Let's go, let's make the best fights happen!" (Boxing News) Davis is the WBA's "champion-in-recess," which lets him challenge for the full belt when he returns. Boxing News expects that comeback in early 2027. But Boxing News also notes rumours of comeback fights against George Kambosos and Stephen Fulton, so he may pass on Schofield. (Boxing News) That's a promoter's dare, not a negotiation, so it stays COLD until Tank answers.

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2. William Zepeda: Oscar's first pick

RUMOR · COLD 🔵 De La Hoya's own top choice: "I think him and Zepeda would be the big fight to do. Zepeda looked like a beast in his last fight." (Yahoo Sports) It's a fight the promoter wants, with no talks reported, so it's still COLD. There's a catch, too: Boxing News reports that because Schofield won a vacant title, he can't make a voluntary defence. (Boxing News)

3. Jose "El Rayo" Valenzuela: the man next in line, and now knocking

REPORTED · WARM 🟠 (updated Oct 12)

If Davis passes on being the mandatory challenger, Boxing News says Valenzuela, the former WBA super-lightweight champion, "is likely to take up that position – as he is next in line in the WBA lightweight ratings." (Boxing News)

Now Rayo is ringing the doorbell himself. He quote-posted a fan citing the WBA's vacant-title rule, tagged the sanctioning body, and wrote: "@WBABoxing let's make it happen ⚡️" (@rayoboxing on X, Oct 11 PT)

Per BoxingNews24, the WBA's September rankings had Schofield No. 1, Bahdi No. 2 and Rayo No. 3. But that "does not automatically establish him as the mandatory challenger," and the WBA hasn't ordered anything. The real blocker is TV, honey. NY Fights spells it out: "Valenzuela fights for Zuffa Boxing on Paramount+, while Schofield works with Golden Boy on DAZN. A WBA order can force both sides to negotiate or head to a purse bid, but it cannot force rival networks to work together."

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He's got the ranking and the rulebook argument, and now the public ask. There's no order, and two networks are in the way. He stays WARM, and he's still the likeliest name on paper.

🎙️ Bonus whisper: Kid Austin picks Haney over Shakur

Schofield has shared a ring with both men in sparring. Back in 2024 he told Fight Hub TV: "I'm not going to speak on sparring, but I'll just say that it was sparring that made me realize that these guys aren't what they say they are." (BoxingNews24) Now, with Haney–Stevenson targeted for Nov 28 in Atlanta, he told Sean Zittel: "I think that I would favour Devin because, even though he is not a crazy power-puncher, we have seen how he was able to put Brian Norman Jr. on the floor – that is something we haven't seen before." He added: "The reach, the size, the boxing skill [makes me favour Devin]." (Boxing News, Oct 12) Shakur, sweetie, your DMs are about to light up.

🗳️ Fight Predictions poll

Who should Floyd Schofield fight next?

• Gervonta "Tank" Davis
• William Zepeda
• Jose "El Rayo" Valenzuela
• Someone else (tell us!)

Whisper Update, Oct. 13: Report Card Wars. The new champ grades the teacher. 📝 Quick recap, darlings: after Schofield beat Lucas Bahdi, Shakur Stevenson posted, typo and all: "A C lever fighter beat a F level fighter!!" Bahdi already fired back over his F. Now it's Kid Austin's turn. Fight Hub TV posted a new sit-down with him today, and according to Fight Hub's caption, Schofield:

• "Calls Shakur a 'C-level' fighter!"
• "Says Badhi punches harder than Tank!" (Fight Hub's spelling)
• "Shuts down a fight vs Mason"
• "Reveals Zepeda or Rayo as potential next opponents!"

Those are Fight Hub's words summing up the interview, not Schofield quoted directly. Still: the C grade just got handed back. And the man who handed it out has his own homework due. His Haney fight is still unsigned. 💅

Round 4, same day. 🔥 At 5:26 PM PT, Fight Hub posted another clip, captioned "Team Schofield GOES OFF on Shakur Stevenson‼️" The caption's quote comes from Team Schofield, per Fight Hub: "He's a clown.. He got no power. He's only elite by association not by who he fought. Because he has not fought nobody. People put him up in the scales because Andre Ward manages him, because Crawford is like his big brother…" No grade from Shakur back yet. Give it an hour. 💅

Rumor-Meter update: The Schofield-Shakur beef is WARM: Shakur posted his grade himself and Fight Hub says Schofield fired it back, and now Team Schofield, per Fight Hub, is piling on. Still, no fight between them is on the table. William Zepeda next: COLD. Jose "El Rayo" Valenzuela next: COLD. Both are named options with nothing ordered or negotiated. A Mason fight: COLD, since Fight Hub says Schofield shut it down. Scout the class: Shakur, Zepeda, Tank, and this week's open Boxbid picks card.

Who gets the A+? Grade them yourself in the Boxbid community. 👀

You didn't hear it from me… 🤫

Sources

• Boxing News (Oct 12, 2026), Davis offered a title shot
• Boxing News (Oct 12, 2026), Schofield predicts Haney vs Stevenson
• Yahoo Sports, De La Hoya on Zepeda
• BoxingNews24 (Oct 12, 2026), Valenzuela pushes the WBA
• NY Fights (Sami Haider, Oct 12, 2026), the WBA/broadcast dispute
• @rayoboxing on X (Oct 12, 2026 03:06 UTC = Oct 11, 8:06 PM PT)
• BoxingNews24 (Nov 2024), Schofield on sparring
• Fight Hub TV on X (Oct 13, 2026), Schofield interview caption
• Fight Hub TV on X (Oct 13, 2026), Team Schofield clip
• Shakur Stevenson on X (Oct 10, 2026 PT)