Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) got more than he bargained for with his fight against Rene “El Bravo” Tellez Girón (20-4, 13 KOs), needing to survive an 11th-round knockdown to win a 12-round unanimous decision on Saturday night.
(Credit: Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda)
The 22-year-old Schofield got decked by a left hand from Giron in round 11 and had to climb off the deck to win the fight shown live on DAZN from The Theater at Virgin Hotel.
Schofield won the fight by the scores 118-109, 116-111 and 118-109. Given that Schofield was knocked down and hit a lot by Giron, it’s hard to feel pleased with that performance.
It was obviously an embarrassing moment for Schofield because not only the fans at the venue saw the knockdown, but people in the boxing world, like lightweight champions Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis, who he’s been pushing to fight.
Schofield’s father/trainer, Floyd Sr., seemed confused during the bout, barking constantly changing instructions that seemed to lack a coherent path for him. It sounded like Floyd Sr. was just winging it and hoping that his cockamamie instructions would work.
Ultimately, Schofield got through the fight to get a wide 12-round unanimous decision, but that was only because he was facing a second-tier opponent and not a highly-ranked contender.
On a positive note. Schofield made it through the fight without getting cut up like he’d been in previous fights. That was dumb luck on his part because Giron hit him a lot tonight.
Golden Boy Promotions boss, Oscar de La Hoya, didn’t seem pleased with Schofield’s performance. When asked for a grade, De La Hoya said, “C minus.” Obviously tha tis not what Schofield and his dad were hoping to get.
“It was a shot to the back of the head. I kind of turned my head, so he took the shot,” said Schofield about his knockdown in round 11. “I just had to get up; I’m not going to quit. (Talking about the knockdown) I give myself a B+ only because I went 12 rounds with a fighter that had a lot of power. He’s a good, rough, tugged fighter that wouldn’t back down.”
