Floyd Schofield took a minute to process the first-hand news that he will now headline this weekend’s DAZN show.

Then he took the time to hit up all of his family and friends to see who was going to make the drive from his Austin hometown to San Antonio for his ten-round lightweight main event versus Haskell Lydell Rhodes.

“Now they don’t have an excuse for why they can’t come to this fight,” Schofield quipped during Thursday’s final pre-fight press conference at The Tobin Center for Performing Arts in downtown San Antonio. “I checked with everyone to see who’s coming.

“It’s a blessing. I got everyone coming up to me talking about, ‘You the main event, you gotta do what you gotta do.’ Hearing that, I gotta make a statement. I was training just as hard as if I was the main event from the beginning. Saturday night, I’m gonna make a statement.”

Schofield-Rhodes will headline a newly shaped four-fight DAZN telecast this Saturday from AT&T Center, home to the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. The venue is roughly 90 minutes from Schofield’s hometown of Austin, which made him an ideal candidate to land on this weekend’s card.

The 20-year-old Texan is now tasked with saving the show.

Vergil Ortiz (19-0, 19KOs) was hospitalized due to a fainting spell which forced him out of the main event versus WBA ‘Regular’ welterweight titlist Eimantas Stanionis (14-0, 9KOs; 1ND). Cancelling the card was never considered by Golden Boy Promotions, not when they have a blue-chip prospect who is ready for a breakout night.

“It was devastating to both fighters,” Golden Boy co-founder and chairman Oscar De La Hoya said of the fallout and lineup change. “We are obviously in Vergil’s corner. He has to recover, get better and then we’ll go back to the drawing board to figure out the next move.

“However, this opens up the opportunity for Golden Boy’s next top prospects. Floyd Schofield can accelerate his profile by headlining this show in his home state of Texas. The show must go on.”

Schofield (14-0, 11KOs) will fight for the third time in 2023 and fifth as part of a Golden Boy-promoted show.

Ironically, his first appearance with the California-based outfit came on the August 6 undercard of Ortiz’s ninth-round knockout of unbeaten Michael McKinson in Fort Worth, Texas. Schofield stopped former junior bantamweight titlist Rodrigo Guerrero in the fifth round and subsequently signed with Golden Boy.

His official debut came atop the October 20 installment of Golden Boy Fight Night on DAZN prospect-based series, where he scored a first-round knockout of Daniel Rosas.

Saturday’s bout versus Rhodes (28-4-1, 13KOs) comes less than three months after a second-round knockout win on the non-televised portion of the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia blockbuster event April 22 in Las Vegas. This weekend is his first fight back in his home state since his win over Guerrero eleven months ago.

“I have a big fan base in Austin and in San Antonio,” insisted Schofield. “To just combine them, I know it’s going to be massive support and love. The energy is going to be amazing.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox