Floyd Schofield will take an incremental step up in competition Saturday night as part of the developmental phase of his promising career.

Eventually, however, his co-promoter predicted that he’ll be “a threat” to any of the top boxers in the lightweight division. Oscar De La Hoya, whose company co-promotes the 135-pound prospect, discussed Schofield’s potential during a recent appearance on “The DAZN Boxing Show.”

“I’m really, really excited for Floyd,” De La Hoya told co-hosts Akin Reyes and Barak Bess. “I think Floyd is one of these throwback fighters. Beautiful story, by the way. Grew up homeless with his father, in the streets, literally, so you know, he’s 12-0, 10 KOs. He’s in a great fight with a Puerto Rican fighter, Alberto Mercado, who has a great record. It’s a great step up. It’s for an international title. But you watch, Schofield will be, I mean, he will be a threat to anybody at 135.”

The 20-year-old Schofield, of Austin, Texas, will oppose Puerto Rico’s Mercado (17-4-1, 4 KOs) in the 10-round co-feature before welterweight contender Alexis Rocha (21-1, 13 KOs), of Santa Anta, California, squares off against Ghana’s George Ashie (33-5-1, 25 KOs) in a 10-round main event at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California.

Schofield-Mercado and Rocha-Ashie are two of four fights DAZN is scheduled to stream Saturday night, starting at 8 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. PT.

 Schofield knocked out Mexico’s Daniel Rosas in the first round of his most recent bout, a scheduled eight-rounder October 20 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. Whereas Rosas (22-6-1, 14 KOs) has been knocked out five times, Mercado has not been stopped in any of his 22 professional fights.

De La Hoya anticipates another impressive performance from Schofield, whose work ethic was lauded by the retired six-division champion.

“He’s in the gym 24/7,” said De La Hoya, who co-promotes Schofield along with Davies Entertainment. “And everything he’s doing, he’s doing right, you know? He’s throwing the right combinations, his footwork is incredible, he has devastating power in both hands. The last time we put him on DAZN, from Fantasy Springs Casino, he was headlining and he was up against a very tough, tough Mexican kid … who had a good record. And Schofield just went out there and demolished him in one round. And that’s exactly what you have to do. You know, when you have an opportunity, on TV, in a main event, you have to go out there and prove who you are. And Schofield didn’t disappoint. He is the real deal.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.