This is how a big fight is supposed to start: one champion calls, the other one answers — by name, with terms, on camera.
AKHi TV’s latest report has newly crowned WBA lightweight champion Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield accepting Abdullah Mason’s call-out to unify. The message from the Schofield side was not a vague “we’re interested.” It was logistics: J Prince has Schofield Sr.’s number — send the contract. The stated terms are Texas terms, Austin or San Antonio, in a January/February window, and the camp says its conversations with Golden Boy and Oscar De La Hoya amount to a green light from their side of the street.
Video credit: AKHi TV.
Two unbeaten young champions, WBA against WBO, both in their early twenties, volunteering to unify before the division forces them to — that almost never happens in modern boxing, where “marinating” is a business model. Schofield has said in every interview since beating Lucas Bahdi that he wants Mason before he leaves 135, possibly as the first chapter of a rivalry that could run to a rematch or a trilogy. Mason, the youngest champion in the sport when he took the WBO belt from Sam Noakes in a Fight of the Year war, has never been shy either. On paper, this is the best fight that can be made at lightweight, full stop.
The Schofield camp did add its receipts, because this rivalry has a history. Sr. again called Mason’s side “smoke and mirrors” for allegedly declining the fight before, repeated the claim that Sam Noakes was moved to number two to smooth Mason’s title path, and defended the Bahdi performance as a master class — denying flatly that his son was dropped in the fight that made him champion. And the camp kept its options named, in case Mason’s side goes quiet: Zepeda or Rayo are standing right there.
Here is the honest caveat, and AKHi’s own comment section was full of it: fans have heard “send the contract” before, from camps that never sent one. Agreement in an interview is not agreement on paper. But credit the posture — Schofield keeps standing on business in public, with a place, a date range and a phone number attached. The next move belongs to Mason’s side and Top Rank. Ball’s in their court, and everybody can see it.
Read next: Zab Judah Reacts to Schofield’s WBA Title Win — and the Shakur and Mason Callouts
