Tevin Farmer was dressed up in Saudi garb today for the final press conference to let Golden Boy, Matchroom, and the media for counting him out for his fight against lightweight contender William Zepeda on Saturday night.
Farmer took issue with the talk of Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs) facing WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson next in a 5 v 5 card on February 22nd. He’s not taken seriously because his skillset doesn’t fit in for the lightweight division.
The former IBF super featherweight champion Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) feels that they’ve gotten ahead of themselves, “putting the cart before the horse” in overlooking him, and he says he’s going to “spoil the plans.”
You can understand why the Shakur vs. Zepeda fight is being planned, though, because it will create much interest. Moreover, Farmer, 34, doesn’t look like the same fighter he once was since moving up to 130.
Farmer and Shakur are aliens to the lightweight division, and their skills don’t fit in. They don’t have the right tools to beat natural lightweights like Zepeda and Tank. On Saturday, Farmer will find that out, and in February, Shakur will meet his destiny against Zepeda.
Farmer Annoyed At Being Counted Out
Like Shakur, who suffers from the same problem, Farmer lacks the power to dominate at 135 as he had at super featherweight, and he has to rely on his defense.
That’s not enough to win at the highest levels at lightweight, and Shakur could find that out as well when he gets in with Zepeda or Gervonta Davis. You must have a balance between offense and defense to exist with the sharks at 135.
William Zepeda: “I’m really motivated for this fight. My preparation has been great. I will shown you on Saturday what is the Mexican flavor.
Tevin Farmer: “On Saturday night, it’s going to be a show that nobody wants to miss. They say that William Zepeda is one of the best in the 135-lb division, which I agree, but you can’t be a top dog unless you beat a top dog.
“On Saturday night, he has his hands full with Tevin Farmer. It’s crazy how I’ve been watching social media and looking all around there. I see Golden Boy and Eddie Hearn promoting this 5 v 5 with Zepeda vs. Shakur. I see that kind of crazy when you’ve got a guy like Tevin Farmer in front of him.
“Like they said, ‘You never put the horse carriage before the horse. I think that’s a bad move because once I beat him on Saturday, I don’t know what they’re going to have for Shakur. I’m not signed to Golden Boy, and I’m not signed to Eddie. We’re going to leave that there.
“November 16th, tune in. Your boy, Tevin Farmer, is back, shooting for a two-time world champion. Like I said, I’m going to show you how USA do it.”
Tevin Lacks The Physical Tools To Win
Farmer would be taken more seriously if he wasn’t coming off a loss in his last fight against Raymond Muratalla on July 13th, and Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz didn’t beat him in 2020. Zepeda easily defeated Diaz by a 12-round decision in October 2022, and he would likely beat Muratalla.
In Farmer’s last fight against Raymond Muratalla, he connected on 109 of 446 punches for 24.4%. Muratalla was limited to 106 of 481 shots for 22%. The reason for the low percentages was due to Farmer’s defense. He shut down Muratalla’s offense, making him miss with his power shots. In doing so, Farmer ruined his chances of winning by not connecting with enough shots.
We could see the same problem for Farmer on Saturday night against Zepeda if he focuses too much on defense and not enough on offense. He’s got the same problem Shakur Stevenson has. He’s all defense and no offense, counting on the judges to score rounds based on making his opponents miss rather than landing punches.
