Floyd ‘Kid Austin’ Schofield is the TSS 2022 Prospect of the Year

Floyd ‘Austin Kid’ Schofield is the TSS 2022 Prospect of the Year

Last year we narrowed down the word “prospect.” By our definition, a prospect couldn’t have more than a dozen fights under his belt and must still be in the undercard phase of his pro career as indicated by the fact that he had yet to compete in a bout scheduled for 10 or more rounds.

By this definition, Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield (12-0, 10 KOs) squeaked in under the wire. Actually, we fudged a little. Schofield’s match on Oct. 20 with Mexican veteran Daniel Rosas at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, was accorded main event status, notwithstanding the fact that it was slated for eight rounds. Schofield knocked out Rosas (22-5-1 heading in) in the first stanza. “The fight was never in doubt from the opening second,” wrote TSS ringside reporter David A. Avila.

Schofield, a 20-year-old lightweight, was discovered by Bernard Hopkins. His match with Rosas was his second on a Golden Boy promotion and his first since officially signing with the Los Angeles company.

Schofield was actually born in Jersey City, New Jersey, but has resided in the capitol city of Texas since he was very young. He is trained by his father, Floyd Sr, who introduced him to boxing when he was still a toddler, taking his son along with him to a boxing gym when he went there to work out. At age eight, the kid started hitting the pads at Richard Lords’ iconic Austin gym, a no-frills facility that produced former junior lightweight champion Jesus Chavez, among others.

Kid Austin has a great backstory, a story of the sort that would fire up the juices of Mark Kriegel.

Floyd Schofield Sr was granted full custody of his son when Junior was two years old. For a time, they were homeless, living in the car, in homeless shelters, and in roach-infested motels. When the elder Schofield saw how naturally his boy took to the sport of boxing, he opted to have him homeschooled. “I programmed him to be the greatest boxer of all time,” says the father. While still an amateur, Schofield sparred with the likes of Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney, performing well enough to reinforce that exalted opinion.

Schofield hasn’t yet been tested against a high-grade gatekeeper, but those in the know say that he has barely scratched the surface of his potential. He dreams of having his first title fight at Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, the home of the school’s football team. They may be a bit of a stretch (the stadium holds 100,000) but it’s a solid bet that “Kid Austin” will go far.

Honorable mention: lightweight Keyshawn Davis