Floyd Schofield Claims Vacant WBA Title While Sergio Mendoza Unifies Flyweight Belts

The divisional rankings for the lightweight and flyweight classes underwent a significant shift following a high-stakes card at Wintrust Arena in Chicago on October 10, 2026. Two new titleholders emerged from the event, as Floyd Schofield and Sergio Mendoza both secured world honors, forcing a reshuffle of the global top ten in their respective weight classes.

Floyd Schofield (20-0, 13 KOs) captured the vacant WBA lightweight world title by navigating a difficult unanimous decision against Canadian contender Lucas Bahdi. The victory places Schofield firmly in the championship mix of one of boxing’s deepest divisions. The title became available after the WBA designated long-time champion Gervonta Davis as a “champion in recess,” allowing Schofield and Bahdi to compete for the vacant strap.

The fight was not without drama, as Schofield had to survive an 11th-round knockdown to reach the final bell. Despite the late scare, the judges awarded Schofield the victory with scores of 116-110, 115-111, and a notably wide 119-108. According to reporting from Forbes, Schofield’s performance was particularly resilient given he had reportedly dealt with illness during the lead-up to the bout.

Wintrust Arena hosted the high-stakes matchups that reshuffled the global top ten rankings.

While Schofield’s win was expected by many oddsmakers, the flyweight division saw one of the year’s most significant upsets. Sergio Mendoza, who entered the night as a 7-1 underdog, unified the WBA and WBC flyweight titles by stopping Ricardo Sandoval in the fifth round. Mendoza (28-1, 24 KOs) was a late-notice replacement for Oscar Collazo, who was forced to withdraw from the card due to a rib injury.

Mendoza’s performance was dominant from the outset. He scored three total knockdowns against Sandoval, including two in the second round, before the referee halted the contest at 1:46 of the fifth. Mendoza, who moved up from the 108-pound division for this opportunity, dedicated the victory to his late brother.

The result has immediate consequences for the flyweight hierarchy. As reported by BoxingScene, Mendoza’s three-knockdown performance over a highly-ranked contender like Sandoval establishes him as a top-tier threat at 112 pounds. The win ends Sandoval’s hopes for immediate title contention and leaves Mendoza holding two of the four major belts in the division.

These shifts come at a time when divisional rankings are increasingly fluid. In the lightweight division, Schofield now sits alongside other major titleholders like Shakur Stevenson and Vasiliy Lomachenko, though his status as WBA champion remains tied to the eventual return of Davis from his “in recess” designation. In the flyweight division, Mendoza’s emergence as a unified champion sets the stage for potential unification bouts with the remaining titleholders in the weight class.

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