By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Lou DiBella doesn’t think a spirited social media campaign will be enough for a Gervonta Davis-Tevin Farmer fight to be added to the Mayweather-McGregor undercard.
DiBella, Farmer’s promoter, expects the fight to happen eventually, but not August 26 in Las Vegas. The undefeated Davis, the emerging IBF junior lightweight champion promoted by Floyd Mayweather Jr., is expected to face someone else in the co-featured fight before Mayweather encounters Conor McGregor next month at T-Mobile Arena (Showtime Pay-Per-View; $99.95 in HD).
“I don’t think it’s gonna happen now,” DiBella told BoxingScene.com following a press conference Wednesday in Manhattan for Saturday’s “PBC on FOX” tripleheader at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. “I think that it’s too soon and I think that it’s too natural a fight to go to Maryland or Pennsylvania in a big room.
“They also have to think ahead. It’s not like it’s gonna make a big difference on the undercard of Mayweather-McGregor. But if you go to the new MGM that’s outside of D.C., or you go to Philly, there’s a lot of places that that’s a big fight. So I don’t expect it’s gonna be on this show.”
Baltimore’s Davis (18-0, 17 KOs) and Philadelphia’s Farmer (25-4-1, 5 KOs), the No. 5 contender for the 22-year-old Davis’ title, traded taunts on Instagram and Twitter earlier this week regarding fighting on the Mayweather-McGregor undercard. They previously engaged in a heated debate at MGM National Harbor after attending the Vasyl Lomachenko-Jason Sosa 130-pound title fight April 8 in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
“We gave it a run and we got some attention,” DiBella said. “That’s what you need to do. And Gervonta’s playing the game, too. Both of those kids get it. They know that it’s percolating as a little grudge kind of match. And I don’t think they hate each other at all. I think they know that it’s something that could be a good thing for both of them when it happens.”
Before Farmer lobbied to become Davis’ opponent next month, there was speculation that Davis would fight Mexico’s Orlando Salido (44-13-4, 31 KOs, 1 NC) on August 26. That fight is not expected to happen, either.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
