ANAHEIM, California – Youth versus experience has generated an array of boxing’s most intriguing matchups, and Saturday’s renewal pitting former junior lightweight titleholder Tevin Farmer against unbeaten contender Floyd Schofield contains all the criteria.
With Farmer-Schofield set to open the deep Jake Paul-Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr pay-per-view card at Honda Center, the banter between the fighters took over Thursday’s news conference and heightened the anticipation for their lightweight bout.
The 22-year-old Schofield, 18-0 (12 KOs), is returning from a controversial 11th-hour withdrawal from fighting three-division and WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson in February, as his father claimed he was poisoned in Saudi Arabia.
Farmer, 34, has lost three consecutive narrow decisions, to current IBF titleholder Raymond Muratalla and back-to-back razor-thin affairs against top-ranked William Zepeda.
There’s a divide between those fighters and his Saturday opponent, Farmer insists.
“You watch boxing, right?” Farmer asked moderator and DAZN broadcaster Todd Grisham. “You know why. Think about it: Tevin Farmer against ‘Kid’ Schofield. You know why.
“What does he do great that I haven’t seen ever? We’re going to test his composure, test everything about him. He’s stepping in there with Tevin Farmer. I’ve got so much [skill] he hasn’t seen. There’s nothing he can test on me that I haven’t been through. He’s not stronger than me, not smarter. He’s not Zepeda, not [former champions and Farmer foes] Jojo [Diaz], [Jose] Pedraza.”
When Schofield expressed confidence and pointed to his record, against Farmer’s 33-8-1 ledger, the Philadelphia veteran answered, “You can tell you don’t know [anything] about boxing when you talk about record. You were built by a promoter that put you in front of the right people to get knocked out. They know you don’t punch hard.
“My last seven opponents were all hurt. Three got knocked out, five touched the canvas, and they’re all more elite than you. Remember, when I was a champion, you were a kid studying. Don’t lose control, young‘un. I’m going to bring a belt to the ring. I’m going to make your daddy proud. Some blood’s got to be shed. After that, I’m going to pat you on the back, tell you to keep your head up and keep going.”
At that point, promoter Paul advised the sides to “save it for Saturday.”
Ranked 10th in the WBA behind No. 2-rated Schofield and belt holder Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Farmer understands the gravity of this bout as an opportunity to rise toward another title shot after standing as IBF 130lbs titlist from 2017-2020.
“I used to be that way, wanting to fight the best, but at this point, I’m a veteran, so I go with the flow and fight who’s in front of me. Everything after that comes later,” Farmer said. “All that hollering [for future fights], I save that for the young boys. You already know I’ll fight the best, and there’s not even a question.”
Farmer has impressively cultivated a thriving career as a high-end gatekeeper who gave the iron-handed Zepeda fits by dropping him in the fourth round of their 2024 split decision bout and forcing a rematch decided by majority decision.
“I can’t make sure [I win] unless I can fight and judge,” Farmer said. “I can only put on my best performances, and then whatever the judges do, the fans will know what really happened. That’s probably all that matters. If this fight wasn’t on TV, I probably wouldn’t take it.”
Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, which has sent Zepeda to fight for Stevenson’s belt July 12 in New York, signed off on Farmer again for its fighter Schofield, knowing a lesson of some substantial kind is coming.
“I don’t know that any of [my recent opponents] proved themselves because none of them dominated and really beat me,” Farmer said. “They did well against me. I look at it as if I’m the guy they’ve got to beat to go up.
“The promoters know what it is. When you’ve got these young guys coming up with promoters behind them, in cahoots with judges, you know how it is, how the politics work. At this point, I’m having fun with this. I go in and do my thing. Why not fight and make money while I’m doing it?”
Schofield, meanwhile, stayed coy about what happened in Saudi Arabia, telling reporters he didn’t want to repeat a complicated episode that appears to remain in dispute.
“I don’t really want to get into what happened in Saudi. I’m just glad to be back. … I want to leave that stuff in the past and look forward,” Schofield said. “I’d like to run it back and get my opportunity [against Shakur].”
Schofield did divulge that the cancellation of a title shot shook him.
“When I first got back from Saudi, I was a little sad because I made my [baby] son a promise that I’d get the green belt and we’d go to Disney,” he said. “I didn’t get to fulfill that. Coming back with nothing to show for it put me in a very bad, depressed state. I was glad I had my dad, my fiancee and my son.”
The Farmer fight will be decided by “my youth and will. I’m faster, stronger and levels above Zepeda. I look forward to showing that off Saturday. I hate talking, and just want to show it,” Schofield said. “I feel like he’s underestimating me.”
Farmer let Schofield know at the news conference that “stepping up to this level as a young fighter, competing with a veteran like me, is another level.”
“I’m going to knock you out,” Schofield told Farmer.
To which Farmer answered, “You ain’t doing that.”
Then, the eager young contender and sage ex-titlist set their disagreement aside and agreed to save it for Saturday.
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
