Three Punch Combo: Notes on Tevin Farmer, The BWAA Watch List and More

Published

7 years ago

August 7, 2018

THREE PUNCH COMBO — Like many who love this sport, I feel there are way too many belts and too many fighters who are considered champions. In a perfect world, there would simply be one champion per weight division. The sheer number of titles per weight class can leave fans confused and waters down the meaning of being a champion.

But belts do matter in boxing. In a few instances, the number of belts available can create opportunities that deserving fighters might not otherwise receive.

Let’s take the case of Tevin Farmer. He lost his professional debut by knockout in February of 2011 and after being stopped by Jose Pedraza in October of 2012 his record fell to a pedestrian 7-4-1. Farmer seemed destined to be headed to journeyman status.

Something happened following that loss to Pedraza. Farmer (pictured in a 2016 fight against Orlando Rizo) began to put things together. The natural talent started to come out. With his record and low knockout percentage, he received opportunities as the “opponent.” He was brought in to lose but instead was flipping the script, winning these contests.

However, after a string of wins, word started to get out about Farmer and the opportunities of fighting as the “opponent” started to dry up. The management teams of the top guys in the 130- and 135-pound weight classes were not eager to throw their guys in with Farmer. A southpaw with quick feet and quick hands, he had evolved into a skilled fighter.

Farmer continued at it and took fights whenever offered. In July of 2016, Farmer had to move out of his natural weight class of 130 to take a fight at lightweight against the naturally bigger Ivan Redkach. Once a top prospect, Redkach was considered a contender at lightweight at the time. It was a high risk low reward fight for Farmer but he used all his skills to cleverly outbox Redkach to win a ten round decision.

The win was impressive but that did not mean that Farmer would automatically get a bigger fight. Again, he is a stylistic challenge to face in the ring. But he was creeping up the IBF ratings at 130. Eventually, he did get to fight for their vacant belt at 130 but would lose a controversial decision to Kenichi Ogawa. But the result would be changed to a “no contest” after Ogawa failed a post-fight drug test and Farmer would be given another opportunity to fight for the vacant IBF belt. And last Friday in Australia, Farmer defeated Billy Dib by unanimous decision to win that belt.

Without his status in the IBF rankings and without the belt at stake, Farmer never fights either Ogawa or Dib. Now with the belt, Farmer can attract names that would otherwise have no interest in facing him. One such name is WBA 130-pound champion Gervonta Davis. With no belt for Farmer, there would be little incentive for Davis to face Farmer. But with the belt, Farmer may get that fight and the nice payday that would go along with it.

Belts do matter in boxing and sometimes can create opportunities for fighters who otherwise may not have ever received such a chance.

The BWAA Watch List

This past week, The Boxing Writers Association of America announced they will post a quarterly list on their website of officials who exhibited poor performance during the previous quarter. This list is meant to hold boxing officials accountable for their actions.

I applaud the BWAA for taking this action. For years, I have been a proponent of a system for holding officials accountable and this is a positive first step. We need to weed out those who consistently do a poor job.

However, I do have a few words of caution. There are times when we have disagreements when it comes to decisions. And due to the subjectivity of boxing, disagreements are just part of the nature of the sport. But there is a difference between disagreeing with someone’s scorecard and a flat out bad scorecard.

On its first official list, the BWAA referenced the cards of two judges who scored an eight round lightweight fight in Sloan, Iowa, between Thomas Mattice and Zhora Hamazaryan in favor of Mattice. Those were unquestionably bad cards.

Four years ago, fight fans debated a decision between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Erislandy Lara that went in favor of Alvarez. The fight featured many close rounds where the subjectivity of scoring came into play. Some argued that the card of Levi Martinez who had it 117-111 in favor of Alvarez was outrageous. But with so many close rounds, there was a clear path to see how Martinez could have come up with that score.

Officials are human and do make mistakes. Just because they turn in a bad scorecard or have a bad night as a referee does not make them poor officials. We have to be careful not to dismiss officials for a bad night. What we are looking for is a pattern of poor performance.

There are certainly times we as fans may have scored a fight incorrectly; I admit I have done so myself. As a fan, I attended the Naseem Hamed-Cesar Soto featherweight title fight in Detroit in 1999. I sat ringside and scored the fight in favor of Soto. My card differed greatly from the three official judges who had it in favor of Hamed (116-108, 115-110, 114-110). The next day, I watched the tape and scored the bout much differently, favoring Hamed. The judges were correct and my scoring would have landed me on the watch list.

To this day, I don’t know what I was watching ringside that night in Detroit. Can I score a fight? I’d like to think so, but I had a bad night scoring that particular fight. And I don’t think I am alone. My point is that officials do have bad nights. Let’s keep that in mind as this list evolves.

Under The Radar

The streaming revolution is in full swing. Recently, Golden Boy Promotions and Main Events announced a partnership with Facebook to stream live fight cards. On Saturday, this series will debut with an event promoted by Golden Boy that is headlined by a featherweight title fight between Jesus Rojas (26-1-2, 19 KO’s) and Joseph Diaz (26-1, 14 KO’s).

I absolutely love this fight and think the contrast of styles should make for a very entertaining fight to kick off this series. Rojas is a pure pressure fighter and volume puncher. From the opening bell, he comes forward, looking to break the will of his opponent with constant pressure. He will abandon defense and eat punches to get inside to unload his own heavy handed shots. In his last fight, Rojas used such a relentless pressure style to break down and stop Claudio Marrero, winning an interim featherweight belt in a mild upset.

Diaz is a classic boxer-puncher. He is athletic and possesses quick hands and quick feet. Diaz will look to use movement to set up angles to land combinations. Like Rojas, Diaz is also a volume puncher and not afraid to get into exchanges.

There is no way given the styles of Rojas and Diaz that this won’t be an all-action fight. Diaz has the better skills and is more athletic. But how will he handle the constant pressure of Rojas? Plus, with both not being afraid to let their hands go, the leather will be flying. It is an interesting fight and a nice way to kick off the new streaming series on Facebook.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

To comment on this article at The Fight Forum, CLICK HERE.

Post Views: 1,319

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Matt Andrzejewski

Up Next

The Avila Perspective, Chapter 9: In L.A., Three Fights in Four Days

Don't Miss

Dmitry Bivol in Atlantic City: He got the “W” But Didn’t Wow Anyone

Friday Boxing Recaps: Observations on Conlan, Eubank, Bahdi, and David Jimenez

Published

20 hours ago

March 8, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Friday-Boxing-Recaps-Observations-on-Conlan-Eubank-Bahdi-and-David-Jimenez

March 7 was an unusually heavy Friday for professional boxing. The show that warranted the most ink was the all-female card in London, a tour-de-force for the super-talented Lauren Price, but there were important fights on other continents.

Brighton

Michael Conlan, who sat out all of 2024 on the heels of being stopped in three of his previous five, returned to the ring in the British seaside resort city of Brighton in a shake-off-the-rust, 8-rounder against Asad Asif Khan, a 31-year-old Indian from Calcutta making his first appearance in a British ring.

Conlan, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist who famously signed with Top Rank coming out of the amateur ranks, is now 33 years old. Against Khan, he was far from impressive, but did enough to win by a 78-74 score and lock in a match with Spain’s Cristobal Lorente, the European featherweight champion.

Conlan, who improved to 19-3 (9), absorbed a lot of punishment in those three matches that he lost. With his deep amateur background, Michael has a lot of mileage on him and he would have been smart to call it quits after his embarrassingly one-sided defeat to Luis Alberto Lopez. His frayed reflexes speak to something more than ring rust. Heading in, Khan brought a 19-5-1 record but had scored only five wins inside the distance.

Conlan vs Khan was the co-feature. In the main event, Brighton welterweight Harlem Eubank, the cousin of Chris Eubank Jr, improved to 21-0 (9 KOs) with a dominant performance over Conlan’s Belfast homie Tyrone McKenna. Eubank was credited with three knockdowns, all the result of body punches, before referee John Latham had seen enough and pulled the plug at the 2:09 mark of round 10. It was the fourth loss in his last six outings for the 35-year-old McKenna (24-6-1).

Harlem Eubank wants to fight Conor Benn next and says he is willing to wait until after his cousin “wipes Benn out.” Chris Eubank Jr vs Benn is slated for April 26 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The North London facility, which has a retractable roof, is the third-largest soccer stadium in England.

Toronto

Local fan favorite Lucas Bahdi and his stablemate Sara Bailey were the headliners on last night’s card at the Great Canadian Casino Resort in Toronto. The event marked the first incursion of Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions into Canada.

Bahdi, who is from Niagara Falls but trains in Toronto, burst out of obscurity in July of last year in Tampa, Florida, with a spectacular one-punch knockout of heavily-hyped Ashton “H2O” Sylva. His next fight, on the undercard of Jake Paul’s match with Mike Tyson, was less “noisy” and the same could be said of his homecoming fight with Ryan James Racaza, an undefeated (15-0) but obscure southpaw from the Philippines who was making his North American debut.

Bahdi vs Racaza was a technical fight that didn’t warm up until Bahdi produced a knockdown in round seven with a sweeping left hook, a glancing blow that appeared to land behind Racaza’s ear. The Filipino was up in a jiff, looking at the referee as if to say, “this dude just hit me with a rabbit punch.”

The judges had it 99-90, 97-92, and 96-93 for the victorious Bahdi (19-0) who was the subject of a recent profile on these pages.

Sara Bailey, a decorated amateur who competed around the world under her maiden name Sara Haghighat Joo and now holds the WBA light flyweight title, successfully defended that trinket with a lopsided decision over Cristina Navarro (6-3), a 35-year-old Spaniard who “earned” this assignment by winning a 6-round decision over an opponent with a 1-4-3 record. The judges scored the monotonous fight 99-91 across the board for Bailey who improved to 6-0 and then returned to the ring to assist her husband in Lucas Bahdi’s corner.

Also

Twenty-two-year-old super bantamweight Angel Barrientes, a Las Vegas-based Hawaii native, delivered the best performance of the night with a one-sided beatdown of Alexander Castellano whose corner mercifully stopped the contest after the seventh round as the ring doctor stood in a neutral corner chatting with the referee.

The gritty Castellano, who hails from Tonawanda, New York, brought an 11-1-2 record and hadn’t previously been stopped. A glutton for punishment, he appeared to suffer a broken orbital bone. Barrientes improved to 13-1 (8 KOs).

The show was marred by an excessive amount of fluffy gobbledygook by the TV talking heads which slowed down the action and made the promotion almost unwatchable.

Cartago, Costa Rica

Fighting in his hometown, super flyweight David Jimenez scored a lopsided 12-round decision over Nicaragua’s Keyvin Lara. The judges had it 120-108, 119-109, and 116-112.

Jimenez, now 17-1, came to the fore in July of 2022 when he upset Ricardo Sandoval in Los Angeles, winning a well-earned majority decision over a 20/1 favorite riding a 16-fight winning streak. That boosted him into a title fight with the formidable Artem Dalakian who saddled him with his lone defeat.

Jimenez’s victory over Lara was his fifth since that setback. It sets up the Costa Rican for another title fight, this time against Argentina’s Fernando Martinez who acquired the WBA 115-pound title in July with an upset of Kazuto Ioka in Japan. Lara, who unsuccessfully challenged Ioka for a belt in 2016, falls to 32-7-1.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 552

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Price Conquers Jonas on an All-Female Card at Royal Albert Hall

Published

2 days ago

March 7, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Price-Conquers-Jonas-on-an-All-Female-Card-at-Royal-Albert-Hall

Ben Shalom’s BOXXER Promotions was at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall tonight with an all-female card topped by a welterweight unification fight between WBC/IBF belt-holder Natasha Jonas and WBA champion Lauren Price.

Liverpool’s Jonas, who turns 41 in June, has had a sterling career, but Father Time has caught up with her. The 30-year-old Price, an Olympic gold medalist, had faster hands, faster feet, and hit harder. The classy Jonas (16-3-1) acknowledged as much in her post-fight interview: “She beat me to the punch every time.”

The scores were 100-90, 98-92, and 98-93.

In advancing her record to 9-0 (2), Price built a strong case that she is the best fighter to come down the pike from Wales since Joe Calzaghe. As for her next bout, she hopes to fight the winner of the March 29 rematch in Las Vegas between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan. That match, with all of the meaningful welterweight hardware at stake, would be a hot ticket item if potted in Cardiff.

Semi-wind-up

Caroline Dubois staved off a late rally to successfully defend her WBC lightweight title with a majority decision over South Korea’s spunky Bo Mi Re Shin. The judges had it 98-92, 98-93, and 95-95. Although the 95-95 tally by the Korean judge was quite a stretch, Shin performed far better than the odds – Dubois was a consensus 35/1 favorite — portended.

Dubois, a 24-year-old Londoner trained by Shane McGuigan, is the sister of IBF heavyweight title-holder Daniel Dubois. Reportedly 36-3 as an amateur, she advanced her pro record to 11-0-1 (5). Heading in, Shin (18-3-3) had won nine of her previous 10 with the lone setback coming via split decision in a robust fight with Belgium’s Delfine Persoon in Belgium.

Other Bouts of Note

Kariss Artingstall returned to the ring after a 14-month absence and scored a unanimous decision over former amateur rival Raven Chapman. The scores were 98-91, 97-92, 96-93.

The prize for Artingstall, who happens to be Lauren Price’s partner, was the inaugural British female featherweight title and a potential rematch with Skye Nicolson who would relish the chance to avenge her last defeat, a loss by split decision to Attingstall in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics. Nicolson, who was part of tonight’s broadcast team, defends her title later this month in Sydney against Florida’s Tiara Brown.

It was the first 10-rounder for Artingstall (7-0). Chapman (9-2) had an uphill battle after Artingstall decked her in the second round with a straight left hand.

In a mild upset, Jasmina Zopotoczna, a UK-based Pole, won a split decision over Chloe Watson, adding Watson’s European flyweight title to her own regional trinket. One of the judges favored Watson 97-93, but each of his colleagues had it 96-95 for the Pole. Although there was no great furor, the verdict was unpopular.

Zapotoczna, who fought off her back foot, improved to 9-1. It was the first pro loss for Watson who is trained by Ricky Hatton.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 686

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Avila Perspective, Chap. 316: Art of the Deal in Boxing and More

Published

3 days ago

March 6, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-316-Art-of-the-Deal-in-Boxing-and-More

So, they want to save boxing?

A group of guys with recent ties to the sport of boxing and bags of money suddenly believe they can save a sport that is older than any other sport since the dawn of mankind.

Boxing is the oldest sport.

When cavemen roamed the planet, you can believe one tribe bet another tribe their guy could whip the other guy. Thus began the sport of boxing. There was no baseball, soccer or horse racing.

Even the invention of the wheel was still a few generations away when men were duking it out with other men for sport.

Throughout history mentions of one man fighting another man without arms are written in the Tales of Ulysses and other literary references.

Boxing will never die. Period.

Here is the reason why.

Boxing requires only two men in their underwear with no weapons and no requirement of classes in jujitsu, kickboxing, wrestling or advance training facilities. You can prepare in your backyard with one heavy bag and a pair of boxing gloves. It’s simple.

MMA, on the other hand, requires money.

Boxing is for the poor. Any kid can walk into a gym and begin training. When they become adults, then they start paying to use the gym.

Don’t let people fool you and tell you “boxing is dying.”

People have been saying those same words since John L. Sullivan in the late 1800s. You can look it up.

The phrase “boxing is dying,” is said by people who want you to pay them money to save it. Kind of sounds like the guy currently sitting in the White House who is going to save America by firing Americans from their jobs and allowing Russia to take over Ukraine.

Don’t believe these people.

Boxing does not need saving.

Why would Dana White, who has stated for decades that MMA is bigger than boxing, though no MMA fighter can equal the purses of a Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Tyson Fury, why is he involved in boxing?

There is big money to be made in boxing, especially with internet gambling sites being allowed all over the world. And boxing is popular worldwide. MMA is not.

More people know who Canelo is than UFC’s Alex Pereira.

I respect the UFC fighters. They put in hard work and battle injuries throughout their careers. But MMA is simply not as big as boxing. The purses of MMA fighters at the top level don’t come close to boxing’s top money earners.

Why did Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz and others quickly switch to boxing when called?

The money in boxing is much bigger.

Follow the money.

NYC

A rumble is planned for Times Square in New York City.

Vatos from Southern California are fighting dudes from Nevada and Brooklyn. Sounds like a script from the Gangs of New York.

Where is Leonardo DiCaprio when you need him?

Ryan “KingRy” Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) will meet Rollie Romero (16-2, 13 KOs) in a welterweight match set for May 2, on Times Square in mid-Manhattan. This is one of three marquee bouts planned to be streamed on DAZN.

Others matched will be Arnold Barboza (32-0, 11 KOs) versus super lightweight titlist Teofimo Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs), and Devin Haney (31-0, 15 KOs) against Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-2, 18 KOs) in a welterweight contest.

This is the proposed match by The Ring magazine backed by Turki Alalshikh who, along with Golden Boy Promotions and Matchroom Boxing, is sponsoring this fight card.

It was also announced that Alalshikh, TKO Group Holdings, and Sela are forming a promotion company.

TKO owns UFC and WWE.

SoCal Fights

Southern California will be busy with boxing cards this weekend.

This Thursday, March 6, is Golden Boy Promotions with a boxing card featuring Manny Flores (19-1, 15 KOs) versus Jorge Leyva (18-3, 13 KOs) in a super bantamweight match at Fantasy Springs Casino. DAZN will stream the boxing card from Indio, California.

On Saturday, March 8, the Fox Theater in Pomona, California hosts a boxing card featuring super middleweights Ruben Cazales (10-0) vs Adam Diu Abdulhamid (18-16). Also, super featherweights Michael Bracamontes (10-2-1) meets Eugene Lagos (16-9-3) at the historic venue promoted by House of Pain Boxing.

On Saturday March 8, Elite Boxing hosts a boxing card at Salesian High in East Los Angeles featuring East L.A. native Merari Vivar (8-0) against Sarah Click (2-8-1) and several other fights.

On Saturday, March 8, an event hosted by House of Champions features top contenders Joet Gonzalez (26-4) vs Arnold Khegai (22-1-1) in a featherweight main event at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, Calif.

A Big All-Female Card in London

On Friday, March 7, the historic Royal Albert Hall in the Kensington borough of London will host an all-female card with two world title fights including a unification fight in the welterweight division.

Natasha Jonas (16-2-1) and Lauren Price (8-0) meet 10 rounds for the IBF, WBC, and WBA belts.

Jonas, 40, the current WBC and IBF titlist, recently defeated Ivana Habazin and before that edged past Mikaela Mayer in a win that could have gone the other way very easily. She will be facing Price, an Olympic gold medalist and current WBA and IBO titlist.

Price, 30, hails from Wales and has an aggressive pressure style that saw her win a battle between punchers with a third-round knockout of Colombia’s Bexcy Mateus this past December in Liverpool. Before that she defeated the always tough Jessica McCaskill.

In the co-main event, lightweights Caroline Dubois (10-0-1) and Bo Mi Re Shin (18-2-3) meet for the WBC world title.

Me Re Shin, 30, fights out of South Korea and has knockout power. She was one of only two fighters to stop Venezuela’s Ana Maria Lozano who has 38 pro fights. That says something. She lost a split decision to Delfine Persoon in Belgium. That really says something.

Dubois had two competitive fights, first, against Jessica Camara that ended in a technical draw due to a clash of heads. Before that she defeated Maira Moneo. Dubois has very good talent and is still young at 24. Is she ready for Mi Re Shin?

Times Square photo credit: JP Yim

Fights to watch:

Thurs., March 6: DAZN, Manny Flores (19-1) vs. Jorge Leyva (18-3)

Fri., March 7: free on DAZN, Lucas Bahdi (18-0) vs. Ryan James Racaza (15-0)

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 623

Share The Sweet Science experience!