Golden Boy Promotions still has a shot at a lightweight star.

Floyd Schofield Jr. has insisted his readiness to answer the call. Proof was provided in his latest performance, an explosive first-round knockout of Tijuana’s Ricardo Lopez. The unbeaten Austin native scored four knockdowns to force referee Joe Rodriguez to stop the contest at just 1:51 into the first round Saturday evening at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

The bout was bumped up to the co-feature when the Ohara Davies-Ismael Barroso interim WBA junior welterweight title fight was postponed due to a visa issue. Schofield was eager to make a statement on the high-profile show headlined by the Ryan Garcia-Oscar Duarte (26-1-1, 21KOs) clash above the 140-pound limit.  

Schofield was elevated to the main event on the July 8 DAZN show in his adopted hometown of San Antonio. The 21-year-old was forced to go the distance versus Haskell Rhodes, who put forth a negative effort. Lopez stood directly in front of Schofield, who couldn’t miss with his left hook.

The weapon of choice produced all four knockdowns, including the first one which came less than a minute into the night. Lopez beat the count but was on the canvas barely 20 seconds later. Schofield continued on the attack and dropped Lopez (17-8-3, 12KOs) twice more before the fight was mercifully stopped by the referee.

Schofield’s last ring appearance saw former 130-pound titlist Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz on the undercard. Golden Boy pushed to make that fight in the near future, which could still happen despite skepticism of the fast-rising lightweight.

“I feel like after tonight he won’t be saying my name anymore,” insisted Schofield, who improves to 16-0 (12KOs).

Schofield is now 6-0 (4KOs) on Golden Boy promoted, five of which have come since signing with the company last summer.

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