By Ian S Palmer
Former IBF Super Featherweight Champion Tevin Farmer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania takes on former IBF Lightweight belt holder Mickey Bey of Cleveland, Ohio this Friday, August 12th in Prescott Valley, Arizona. The 10-round lightweight bout is apparently available on pay-per-view in America and was originally scheduled to take place in May but was postponed. Farmer’s last outing came in January, 2020 when he lost his title in his fifth defence by unanimous decision to Joseph Diaz Jr. Bey hasn’t fought since December, 2019 when he dropped a 10-round split decision to George Kambosos Jr after being decked in the final round.
The 32-year-old Farmer won the vacant IBF Super Featherweight title in August, 2018 via a unanimous decision over Billy Dib. He defended it against James Tennyson by fifth-round stoppage in October, by unanimous decision over Francisco Fonseca in December and by unanimous decision over Jono Carroll in March, 2019 before beating Guillame Frenois by unanimous decision. He then lost the belt to Diaz six months later.
Farmer originally fought for the vacant title in December, 2017, but dropped a split decision to Kenichi Ogawa. Many fans and experts thought Farmer had done enough to win and the bout was later changed to a no-contest when Ogawa failed a drug test. Farmer stands 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 67-inch reach. He had only 16 amateur fights and went 12-4 before turning pro in 2011. Since then he’s boxed 276 rounds and enters the bout with a record of 30-5-1 with just 6 Ko’s to his name.
Farmer lost his pro debut when he was stopped in four rounds by Oscar Santana. He then dropped a four-round unanimous decision to Josh Bowles eight months later and drew Frank De Alba in his next fight. Three fights later, Farmer lost an eight-round decision to Kamil Laszcyk before being stopped by Jose Pedraza in eight rounds in 2012. He didn’t give up though despite losing four and drawing one of his first 12 fights.
Farmer then went on a 23-fight winning streak before losing to Diaz. He hasn’t fought many world class contenders though with his best wins being over Tennyson, Billy Dib, Ivan Redkach, Emanuel Gonzalez and Gamaliel Diaz. With a current knockout ratio of just 16.2 per cent it appears Farmer doesn’t have much in the way of power, but Bey can’t take him lightly because he possesses fine boxing skills and a lot of hand speed. He’s improved a lot over the years and his chin isn’t bad at all even though he’s been stopped twice.
The 39-year-old Bey climbs through the ropes with a mark of 23-3-1 with 11 Ko’s. He’s boxed 161 rounds since making his pro debut in 2005 following a pretty good amateur career. He stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 69-inch reach which gives him a three-inch height advantage over Farmer as well as a two-inch edge in reach. Bey doesn’t possess one-punch knockout power either as his current ratio is 39.3 per cent and he’s suffered some hand problems in the past.
Bey’s first pro loss came at the hands of John Molina in 2013 when he was stopped in the 10th and final round in a bout he was ahead on points in. He lost a 12-round split decision to Rances Barthelemy in 2016 in a shot at the IBF Lightweight Title even though he dropped Barthelemy in the second round. Bey had originally won the IBF Lightweight Title in 2014 via a split decision over Miguel Vasquez but had the title stripped from him after he failed to meet the mandatory challenger Denis Shafikov.
Bey’s last defeat of course came to Kambosos in his last outing three years ago. He also fought to an eight-round majority draw with Jose Hernandez in 2011. Bey’s biggest wins have been over Vasquez, Hector Velazquez, Carlos Cardenas, Jose Herrera Garcia, Naim Nelson and Luis Valdivia Marin. Although Bey has been dropped and stopped before, he owns a pretty decent chin.
Prediction……
Both Farmer and Bey are highly-skilled boxers who lack power. They also will have a lot of ring rust to get through but they can’t afford to get off to a slow start as this bout looks like it’s scheduled for just 10 rounds. Bey has the size advantage but he’s also 39 years old now. Both boxers should have their moments but I’m going with the younger Farmer here.
