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Floyd Schofield took just 78 seconds to wipe out crafty veteran Tevin Farmer tonight, making a serious statement in the lightweight division after feeling doubted for months.
Schofield (19-0, 13 KO) took a lot of criticism after pulling out of a planned February challenge against Shakur Stevenson, returning instead tonight against Farmer (33-9-1, 8 KO), a still-capable southpaw who had gone 24 very hard rounds with William Zepeda, who will face Stevenson in July.
Zepeda, for what it’s worth, never came close to doing what Schofield did tonight, and neither did current IBF lightweight titlist Raymond Muratalla, who beat Farmer over 10 rounds about 11 months ago. All of those fights were close, this was a blowout.
Schofield dropped Farmer twice, and referee Gerard White stepped in after a couple of more clean shots landed, giving Farmer a chance but pulling the short leash as soon as he sensed danger.
Farmer was looking up at the clock on the big screen after the second knockdown, but there was still a ton of time left in the round. The veteran was hurt and in trouble, and he knew it.
This was a legitimately impressive performance from Schofield, whose speed and accuracy, combined with his power, just mowed down a tough veteran opponent.
“It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I’ve been doubted ever since what happened in February, and a lot of people didn’t think I’d win this fight. It’s just a lot of emotion,” Schofield said.
Schofield passed his best wishes to Farmer, whom he called his “friend,” and admitted that reading a lot of the negativity over the last few months had “gotten to him.”
“I never had doubt — just reading the comments, it just made me feel like a lot of people switched up on me because of one incident. My dad kept me focused, my baby son kept me focused, he’s my pride and joy and I’ll fight to the death for him. He’s going to know his dad is a warrior.”
Schofield didn’t make any big call-outs of his own, but did tell Shakur Stevenson to keep focused on William Zepeda, Schofield’s Golden Boy stablemate.
“You saw the future star at 135 lbs. He put everybody on notice,” promoter Oscar De La Hoya said, adding that he’d like to see Schofield face the Stevenson vs Zepeda winner.
