Floyd Schofield, Lucas Bahdi Agree to Fight for Gervonta Davis' Old Title

The WBA is finally set to crown a new lightweight champion for the first time since Gervonta 'Tank' Davis went dark in late 2025.

The WBA has not hosted a 135-pound title fight since Davis controversially drew with Lamont Roach Jr. in March 2025. Since then, the organization has twice named Davis "champion in recess" due to ongoing legal issues, most recently in June.

Davis' old title will now be contested between No. 1 contender Floyd Schofield and No. 2 contender Lucas Bahdi, who agreed to a vacant title fight, Ring Magazine reported on Thursday. The vacant lightweight title fight is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 10 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Floyd Schofield and Lucas Bahdi have agreed to fight for the vacant WBA lightweight title on October 10th, likely in Las Vegas, Schofield's manager Michael Miller told The Ring.

The vacant title was formerly held by Gervonta "Tank" Davis, who was declared a 'champion in recess'… pic.twitter.com/tQt2u5CNsD
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) August 13, 2026

The matchup was previously scheduled to go to purse bids on Tuesday, but that event was canceled with both sides requesting more time. The WBA gave them one more week to reach an agreement, which is now seemingly done.

Davis, who was stripped of the title in January before being named "champion in recess" in June, is not listed as a titleholder on the WBA website. The sanctioning body has been targeting a Schofield-Bahdi vacant title fight since shelving 'Tank' in June.

Schofield, Bahdi enter WBA title fight after long layoffs

WBA lightweight belt — El Paso boxer Stephanie Han’s WBA lightweight championship belt sits on a table during a meet-and-greet at the Sun City Card Show at the Starlight Event Center in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 20, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Schofield, 23, has been the WBA's No. 1-ranked contender since his impressive first-round knockout win over Tevin Farmer in June 2025. That victory came four months after he withdrew from his scheduled WBC title fight with Shakur Stevenson during fight week.

Schofield has not even been booked in another fight since his win over Farmer. The New Jersey native has been linked to several champions in the last year before circling back to the vacant WBA title fight.

Bahdi, 32, remains the top male boxing prospect with Most Valuable Promotions, a position he has held since his stunning knockout win over Ashton Sylve on the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson undercard in June 2024. The undefeated Canadian has rattled off three decision victories since the career-defining moment, most recently over Roger Gutierrez in August 2025.

Assuming Schofield and Bahdi can put pen to paper, all four major sanctioning bodies will have an active lightweight champion for the first time in well over a year. William Zepeda just claimed the vacant WBC 135-pound title with a dominant decision nod over Roach on Aug. 1.

However, with two months remaining until Schofield and Bahdi's agreed-upon fight date, IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla has already stated that his recent title defense against Robson Conceicao was his final fight at 135 pounds.

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