Tevin Farmer would love nothing more than to unify the titles and truly establish his place atop the 130-pound division.
Instead, the Philadelphia-bred southpaw continues to play the hand that he’s dealt. His 2020 vision remains the same as has been the case since first putting a belt around his waist nearly 18 months ago—even if with each fight, comes a little less optimism.
“My goals for 2020 is the same as they were for 2019,” Farmer (30-4-1, 6KOs) insisted during a recent media conference call to discuss his voluntary title defense versus Joseph ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz (30-1, 15KOs). “That goal is to become a unified champion or undisputed champion, but I don't think [it will happen]. It’s very hard for those goals to get done.”
Farmer has pursued such fights shortly after outputting Billy Dib on the road in Australia in their August 2018 vacant title fight. In lieu of blockbuster matches came a hectic schedule, cramming in four successful defenses within his first full year as a 130-pound titlist.
Back-to-back wins over mandatory challengers Jono Carroll and Guillaume Frenois last year paved the way for Farmer to pursue any fight he pleased. The trick, however, was getting his divisional peers in the ring.
Six long months later comes his next ring appearance, as he faces Diaz—a 2012 U.S. Olympian and former title challenger from Downey, California—on the undercard of a DAZN-streamed pre-Super Bowl show this Thursday in Miami, Florida.
It’s not necessarily what he wanted all along, but it’s the fight that was offered and the one he accepted while waiting on the next big one. Which, as he accurately puts it, will be the first big one.
“Nobody don’t want to fight nobody,” Farmer notes of today’s era of far too many platforms and divisional titlists and far too little cooperation among the sport’s power players. “The best don’t want to fight the best. Promoters don't want to put their fighters in with other top guys, and it's very difficult.
“So for me, I’m just gonna keep winning the fights that I can and keep moving forward with my career.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox