By Ian S Palmer
IBF Super Featherweight Champion Tevin Farmer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania defends his title for the fifth time as he takes on Joseph Diaz Jr of Downey, California this Thursday, January 30th. The 12-round bout comes from Miami, Florida and can be seen on DAZN in North America and Sky Sports Action in the UK. Farmer’s last outing came in July when he beat fellow southpaw Guillaume Frenois of France via unanimous decision. Diaz Jr was last in the ring in September when he beat Jesus Cuadro by a 12-round majority decision.
The 29-year-old Farmer won the vacant 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 Frenois in July. 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, and he’s boxed 264 rounds since then and enters the bout with a record of 30-4-1 with just 6 Kos 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 and Farmer is now riding a 23-fight winning streak. 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 16.7 per cent it appears Farmer doesn’t have much in the way of power, but Diaz 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. Farmer’s lost some points in his career for bending the rules from time to time and isn’t averse to landing low blows. He’s now getting a chance at proving his talent, but needs to take on tougher opposition if he hopes to be recognized as a legitimate champion.
The 27-year-old Diaz Jr. is also a southpaw and has fought for a world title before as he dropped a unanimous decision to WBC Featherweight Champion Gary Russell Jr. in May 2018 and then beat WBA titleholder Jesus Rojas by unanimous decision three months later but he came in overweight for the fight and wasn’t able to win the belt. He’ll climb through the ropes with a mark of 30-1 with 15 Kos. Diaz was a member of the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team at the 2012 Games in London, England where he went 1-1 as a bantamweight.
He also reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 World Amateur Championships. Diaz turned pro in December, 2012 and has fought 215 rounds since. He has average power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 48.4 per cent. Diaz is 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 64-inch reach which means he’s the same height as Farmer but gives up three inches in reach. Since turning pro he’s captured the NABF and WBO-NABO Featherweight Titles and the WBA Gold Super Featherweight Crown.
Along with meeting Russell, his toughest opponents to date have been Rojas, Cuadro, Freddy Fonseca, Victor Terrazas, Rafael Rivera, Manuel Avila, Horacio Garcia, Jayson Velez, Hugo Partida, Rene Alvarado, Roberto Castaneda and Ruben Tamayo. It’s quite obvious he stepped up in class against Russell and handled himself well, losing by scores of 115-113, 117-111 and 117-111.
Prediction…
Diaz Jr. is a good opponent who throws a lot of punches behind a solid jab. He mixes things up and has a good body attack too and is probably Farmer’s toughest test to date. Both of them are workmanlike boxers and this should be an entertaining tilt but likely more of a boxing match than a slugfest. This should be a very close fight and I wouldn’t be surprised by any outcome. However, I think Farmer will do just enough to retain his title by win or draw.
