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Other than a very controversial defeat to Kenichi Ogawa that later was changed to a no-contest, Tevin Farmer hasn’t lost a fight since Jose Pedraza stopped him in the eighth round in October 2012.
Philadelphia’s Farmer defeated 23 opponents during that successful stretch and became a 130-pound champion. None of them, according to Joseph Diaz Jr., compares to him.
Diaz believes that this step up in class will cost Farmer his IBF junior lightweight title Thursday night in Miami. DAZN will stream the Farmer-Diaz fight as part of the Demetrius Andrade-Luke Keeler undercard from Meridian at Island Gardens.
Farmer is listed as a 2-1 favorite to win this battle between southpaws, but Diaz is determined to prove the odds-makers wrong.
“I feel like I’m physically and mentally well-prepared for this fight,” Diaz said during a recent conference call. “I know that Tevin Farmer is hell of a fighter. I know that he’s a very good defensive fighter. He’s a good, good champion, an IBF champion defending his title. But as I said in previous interviews, he’s never fought anybody like me. I feel like he’s been getting, you know, hand-picked opponents and I feel like his opponents are nothing compared to me. And I feel like he’s in for a rude awakening come Thursday night.”
The 29-year-old Farmer (30-4-1, 6 KOs, 1 NC) has made four defenses of a championship he won by beating Billy Dib by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder in August 2018 in Eveleigh, Australia. Those wins have come against James Tennyson, Francisco Fonseca, Jono Carroll and Guillame Fenois – a group that doesn’t impress Diaz.
The 27-year-old Diaz (30-1, 15 KOs), a 2012 U.S. Olympian from Downey, California, has lost only a 12-round unanimous decision to WBC featherweight champ Gary Russell Jr. He doesn’t expect to come up short again against a lighter-punching opponent he doesn’t consider as fast or as diverse offensively as the left-handed Russell (30-1, 18 KOs).
“I have no doubt in my mind,” Diaz said. “I’m extremely confident in my preparation. I’m extremely confident in my physical abilities, to know that I’m gonna go out there and overcome Tevin Farmer. And like I said before, I’ve been waiting my whole, entire life, ever since I was 11 years old, to become a world champion. I’ve been training my whole life for this, so I’m gonna leave it all in the ring.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.