Golden Boy doubleheader: Schofield vs Bahdi, Collazo moves up to challenge Sandoval
Golden Boy has a pair of intriguing world title fights coming to Chicago
Floyd Schofield and Lucas Bahdi will fight for the vacant WBA lightweight title, and 105 lb king Oscar Collazo will jump two divisions to challenge unified flyweight titlist Ricardo Sandoval.
It’s a strong Golden Boy doubleheader, which will take place Saturday, October 10, from Chicago’s Wintrust Arena, a rare championship-level card for the boxing-neglected Windy City.
The show will stream live on DAZN.
Schofield (19-0, 13 KO) and Bahdi (20-0, 15 KO) has been expected for months now, as WBA champ Gervonta “Tank” Davis has obviously been sidelined by some combination of personal and legal issues, and was downgraded to “champion in recess” by the WBA in January of this year.
Schofield vs Bahdi matchup
Davis hasn’t fought since his March 2025 draw with Lamont Roach Jr. He barked quickly and loudly about scheduling a rematch quickly, but nothing ever came to fruition. The closest Davis has come to getting back in the ring was a novelty fight against 200 lb Jake Paul late last year, but Paul scrapped that after another Davis arrest and fought Anthony Joshua instead.
The 24-year-old Schofield has been pretty inactive, too, biding his time until whatever WBA decision actually came down. Now he’s got that. He last fought in June 2025, thrashing veteran Tevin Farmer in 78 seconds. Schofield was set to fight another veteran, JoJo Diaz, last November, but that fight was canceled when Schofield was reportedly injured.
Canada’s Bahdi, 32, has been with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions after he knocked out Ashton “H2O” Sylve, then MVP’s top prospect, in the sixth round of their fight in July 2024. He hasn’t really done much with that win in one sense, but what he’s done has kept him busy enough and obviously put him in position for a WBA title fight after wins over Armando Casamonica, Ryan James Racaza, and a long-faded Roger Gutierrez. Basically, Bahdi was signed up as a B-side to make a prospect look good, disagreed with that plan, and since then has been kind of treated like a prospect himself, even though he’s in is 30s.
Bahdi’s power stopped Sylve, but he’s gone 10- and 12-round distances with all three opponents since then, and it’s worth remembering he’d lost all five rounds to Sylve before the KO, too. Is he “lucky” to be in this position? Maybe, but he is here, and he has his shot, the same as Schofield, who has to take Bahdi seriously.
Collazo vs Sandoval matchup
Yes, Golden Boy are listing this as “Collazo (challenger) vs Sandoval (champion),” because they are truly behind Collazo. Not that they aren’t behind Sandoval at all, they promote both fighters, but it’s a quiet admission that they see Collazo as the bigger deal internally. Sandoval’s goal will be to change their minds, obviously.
Collazo (15-0, 12 KO) fought as a flyweight on short notice in June, wiping out the over-matched, late-notice opponent Neider Valdez inside of two rounds. That had been intended to be another defense of his WBA and WBO 105 lb titles, but the talk had been that he planned to move up by the end of the year anyway.
Sandoval (27-2, 18 KO) presents a much bigger threat than Valdez did. The 27-year-old “El Nino” went over to Japan and stunned Kenshiro Teraji to win the WBC and WBA flyweight titles in July 2025. He hasn’t fought since, but not for lack of trying. He was slated for a trip to the UK for a title defense this year, but opponent Galal Yafai withdrew due to injury.
Collazo is a terrific fighter who has earned a slot among the P4P top 10 in boxing, at least in my opinion, and I don’t think anyone could have him too far outside of the top 10. But 105 to 112 can be a big, big move. A lot of top 105 lb fighters just have not moved up well over the years, some even struggling with the smaller jump to 108, and we’re talking about some really great talents, some excellent boxers.
Collazo is officially listed at 5’2” with a 61-inch reach. Sandoval, who is a legit good boxer himself and not just some fluky guy holding a belt or two, is listed at 5’6” with a 67-inch reach. It’s a bold and admirable move by Collazo, who wants to prove himself in another division in what should be a real challenge, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does.
ANNOUNCED: Floyd Schofield will fight Lucas Bahdi for the WBA lightweight title, and Ricardo Sandoval will defend his WBA and WBC flyweight titles against Ring strawweight king Oscar Collazo on October 10th in Chicago on DAZN 