By Keith Idec

Tevin Farmer figures Gervonta Davis wants to fight him.

It’s his handlers at Mayweather Promotions, according to Farmer, that have prevented these rivals from meeting in a long-discussed bout. That’s the only explanation that makes sense to Farmer, whose co-promoter, Eddie Hearn, has made multiple offers for Davis to face Farmer on DAZN, the streaming service with which Farmer has a contract.

“Maybe he do wanna fight,” Farmer told BoxingScene.com. “Maybe he do. But they always say sometimes you’ve gotta protect fighters from themselves. And I feel like that’s what the promoters are doing right now – protecting him from himself. Because Eddie Hearn has already made multiple offers to make the fight and the fight ain’t happen yet. So, maybe they’re protecting him from himself, because I’m ready.”

Davis and Farmer both are scheduled to defend their 130-pound championships in mandated matches Saturday night.

Davis (21-0, 20 KOs) is scheduled to oppose Panama’s Ricardo Nunez (21-2, 19 KOs) at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Davis’ hometown. The Davis-Nunez fight will headline a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).

Philadelphia’s Farmer (29-4-1, 6 KOs, 1 NC) is set to face France’s Guillaume Frenois (46-1-1, 12 KOs) on the Maurice Hooker-Jose Ramirez undercard at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. DAZN will stream the Hooker-Ramirez and Farmer-Frenois fights.

Assuming the favored Farmer and Davis win Saturday night, Farmer isn’t optimistic about boxing Davis next.

Farmer expects to defend his IBF junior lightweight title against Joseph Diaz Jr. (29-1, 15 KOs) in his following fight. Davis, the WBA’s “super” super featherweight champion, could box Yuriorkis Gamboa in his next fight if Cuba’s Gamboa (29-2, 17 KOs) beats Rocky Martinez (30-3-3, 18 KOs) on the Davis-Nunez undercard.

“It definitely won’t happen for a while,” Farmer said. “The reason why I say that is because [network and promotional] politics are involved. It’s not gonna happen. And then, when the time is right, are they gonna give us the money that we deserve? That’s probably gonna be the second stoppage of the fight, why the fight don’t happen. First, it’s politics. Then, if we don’t get the money we deserve, at the end of the day, me and Gervonta built this up ourselves for five years.

“Since 2014, we built this up. If it wasn’t for us, there wouldn’t be no Gervonta Davis and Tevin Farmer. So, once you get past the politics, I feel like we should get paid fair, and the fight will happen. If it don’t happen, it’s gonna be two things – it’s gonna be politics or the money. That’s just how boxing works, so everybody’s gotta be fair.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.