By Jake Donovan
At first glance, Tevin Farmer’s run-in with Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz Jr. earlier this week in Las Vegas played out as if the defending super featherweight titlist is already drumming up interest for a future fight.
Of course, he already has a current title defense in the midst of being finalized. Not to mention the possibility that he may not getting around to fighting Diaz at all.
Currently in queue for Farmer is a mandatory title defense versus France’s Guillaume Frenois, which was ordered in April by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), whose title Farmer has held since last August. A deal has yet to be reached between camps, as the bout is currently subject to a purse bid hearing to be held Tuesday, May 7 at IBF headquarters in New Jersey.
Frenois (46-1-1, 12KOs) hasn’t fought since a controversial 12-round draw with Ireland’s Jono Carroll last December in Sheffield, England. The bout was a final eliminator, but the stalemate prompted the IBF to allow both to get separate shots at Farmer in lieu of ordering a rematch.
The previously unbeaten Carroll wound up getting first dibs at the defending titlist, to which Frenois agreed in exchange for a guaranteed crack at the winner. Farmer went to beat the Irish contender in a spirited 12-round decision this past March in his Philadelphia hometown.
Following a quick vacation getaway, Farmer was ordered to face Frenois, a 35-year old southpaw from France who is unbeaten in his past 16 starts. However, he lacks a career defining win and his lone loss came versus the very ordinary Devis Boschiero in Sept. ’18.
Still, it’s means to keep Farmer active as the bout will mark his fourth defense since soundly outpointing Billy Dib to win the vacant title last August on the road in Australia. No other male titlist has been as active, as the June deadline for this bout to happen will give Farmer his fifth fight in a span of 10 months assuming it happens within that time frame.
What’s not quite as guaranteed is Farmer ever giving Diaz a shot at his belt.
Their run-in on Thursday came at the end of the undercard press conference for Saturday’s middleweight unification bout between World champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and two-time alphabet titlist Daniel Jacobs, which will stream live on DAZN with whom Farmer has been aligned since last fall. Diaz will appear in preliminary action in a stay-busy bout versus fringe contender Freddy Fonseca.
Previous online banter had Diaz calling for Farmer to put his title on the line on this very show, which would’ve put the defending 130-pound titlist back in the ring just six weeks after his spirited 12-round win over Carroll. The two had a lengthy back-and-forth exchange through Twitter, although a conversation which was meant in jest for Farmer who was in vacation mode and already aware that he was due to honor a mandatory title obligation.
Diaz has said plenty about—and to—Farmer over what he perceived to be a fallout, with Farmer using the opportunity to confront his divisional rival in person. The tactic is in character for the Philly southpaw, who would much rather settle differences in person than through a keyboard.
“He was poppin’ s*** on social media, so I seen him over there with the green hair and he tried to be my friend,” Farmer explained to Fight Hub TV. “No, we ain’t gonna be friends. ... It’s how we do it in the streets. If you poppin’ and I see you, I’m gonna come walk down on you. You gotta keep the same energy, the energy was different today. He started getting hyped at the end, but the energy was different. He knew.”
Thursday’s exchange might be the closest that Diaz (28-1, 14KOs)—a 2012 U.S. Olympian whose lone loss came in a featherweight title challenge versus Gary Russell Jr. last May—gets to a showdown with Farmer, if the reigning beltholder has final word on the subject.
“Maybe never. Be number one. I had to fight for a mandatory. I was in the rankings for a while. I had to fight to be mandatory. Their favorite line was, ‘What do we gain from fighting Tevin Farmer?’ Because I could fight. Now I get a belt — I’m gonna let these dudes starve like they let me starve. I was starvin’, I’m gonna let them starve.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
