Tevin Farmer, Katie Taylor Win and Entertain in Showcase Bouts in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA – Once upon a time, a major manufacturer of athletic shoes and apparel orchestrated a national television advertising campaign with the message that “Chicks dig the long ball,” a reference to baseball that holds that home runs are sexier than mere singles.

That still is so in baseball, and is even more the case in boxing, where fighters with the ability to turn out the lights on an opponent with a single shot – Mike Tyson being a prime example – almost always command a higher level of public interest than tacticians with lesser voltage in their punches. But there are some boxing maestros who seldom go deep, in baseball vernacular, but nonetheless have demonstrated an ability to entertain with a wide array of ring skills.

Cases in point: Pernell Whitaker and Floyd Mayweather Jr., who bewitched, bothered and bewildered opponents through the use of superior footwork, hand speed, defense and precision punching. They became rich and famous despite relatively low KO percentages, presenting the counter argument that chicks – guys, too – can appreciate pugilistic artistry as well as annihilation.

It remains to be seen whether IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer (29-4-1, 6 KOs) can ever match “Sweetpea” or “Money” in terms of accomplishment or crowd appeal, but the 28-year-old southpaw from North Philadelphia strengthened the case for himself as a headliner with an entertaining unanimous decision over gritty Irish challenger Jono Carroll (16-1-1, 3 KOs) in the DAZN-streamed main event here Friday night at the Liacouras Center on the Temple University campus.

“Tevin has worked himself into a position where he’s a valuable commodity in the American fight game,” said Matchroom Sports’ Eddie Hearn, who, along with Lou DiBella, co-promote the prolific singles hitter who extended his winning streak to 22 bouts, albeit with a hotly disputed points loss to Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa that was changed to a no-contest when Ogawa failed a post-fight drug test. Only five of Farmer’s victories have come inside the distance during his six-year ascent from a nondescript 7-4-1 start to his pro career.

An enthusiastic, international turnout of approximately 4,600 spectators – exact attendance figures were not announced – voiced its approval not only of Farmer-Carroll, but of the two other fights streamed by DAZN, in which Ireland’s Katie Taylor (13-0, 6 KOs), arguably the world’s finest female fighter, retained her WBA and IBF lightweight championships while adding the WBO title held by Brazil’s Rose Volante on a ninth-round stoppage, and Poland’s Maciej Sulecki (28-1, 11 KOs) survived a late-round assault from Philadelphia veteran Gabe Rosado (24-12-1, 14 KOs) to capture the vacant WBO Intercontinental middleweight belt on a unanimous decision.

It was an overall good night for boxing, with several non-televised bouts on the nine-fight card – which featured participants from eight countries – also engaging in scraps that stirred the passions of the in-house audience.

“I want to thank Philadelphia because that was a f—— hell of a show,” Hearn said. “The Philly guys came out, the Irish came out, the Polish came out. It was just a great feeling all night, from top to bottom.”

Not too shabby, considering that the very good DAZN card will be overshadowed by Saturday night’s megafight in which IBF welterweight champ Errol Spence Jr. will defend against future Hall of Famer Mikey Garcia in Arlington, Texas, and maybe even by Sunday afternoon’s St. Patrick’s Day card in Madison Square Garden topped by popular Irish featherweight Michael Conlan against Ruben Garcia Hernandez.

If there was anything to be disappointed about in Philly, it was the lack of coverage by the city’s two major newspapers and web site, which did not send any reporters from its offices located just a few miles away from the Liacouras Center. Maybe the fight card got lost on an extremely busy local sports day that included the Eagles’ latest moves in free agency, the Phillies in spring training with newly signed superstar Bryce Harper, the 76ers winning at home against the Sacramento Kings, the Flyers losing a high-scoring contest on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and defending NCAA basketball champion Villanova and Temple playing in their respective conference tournaments.  Still, for a town that has long prided itself as being America’s hottest of boxing hotbeds, the snub might not portend well for more such shows finding their way back here.

Carroll, who had at the insistence of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission trimmed a jet-black beard that would have done Rip Van Winkle proud, promised to give a spirited effort, and he did just that. Punch statistics revealed that he landed 294 of 1,227, the latter number third highest all-time for super featherweights since such statistics have been tallied. He elected to make the fight at close range from the opening bell, with a furious body assault designed to wear Farmer down.

But Carroll – who landed exactly 10 more punches than Farmer, despite throwing an astounding 404 more – wound up wearing himself down more than the champion, who had enough gas left in the tank to clearly hurt and nearly finish off the Irishman in the 11^th round. After another big round for Farmer in the 12^th, the scores were read: 117-111 (twice) and 117-110, a just decision but by wider margins than some veteran observers at ringside had it.

Asked if he thought he might have taken Carroll out with his 11^th-round barrage, which included more doubles than singles, Farmer said, “When I seen him hurt, I thought I could. But I messed my hand up in, like, the fourth round. It’s swollen.

“But I had to push through it. I knew a guy at this level was not going to be easy. You got to keep pushing, and you got to be in shape to go 12. I’m a tough guy. It’s going to take a lot to stop me.”

Carroll, whose puffy face was indicative of his hard night on the job, confirmed that he had to dig deep to make it through the 11^th round in which Farmer landed 36 of 67 power shots. “Obviously, I was hurt,” he said. “Me balance was off. Mentally, I was all right. Mentally I was with it. But I had never experienced that before, so me legs were all over the place, you know what I mean?

“But it’s good to overcome those things so you can come back stronger. Next time when it happens I’ll know how to deal with it. Boxing is all about pushing yourself to the limit every single time. If you’re not pushing yourself in the boxing world, what’s the point of being in this sport? I don’t want to fight average people. I want to fight the best in the world.”

DiBella credited Carroll with providing Farmer, who had said beforehand that he was winning fights too easily, with a much-needed trial by combat. “I know what kind of fighter I have in Tevin Farmer, but this guy gave a blueprint of what you do when you get a chance to fight for a world title,” DiBella said, nodding toward Carroll. “You give 110 percent of what you have.”

Next up for Farmer, if he has anything to say about it, will be a unification showdown with WBA super featherweight titlist Gervonta Davis (21-0, 20 KOs). But if that fight can’t be made quickly, Hearn and DiBella won’t hesitate to put Farmer in with whoever’s available and willing.

“That’s the fight that will secure Tevin’s legacy in this sport, not just his financial legacy,” Hearn said of the prospect of the most attractive 130-pound title bout that can be made at this time. “Tevin’s had three world championships defenses in four months. Tank’s (Davis) had three world championship fights in five years.”

Women’s boxing in the United States is still attempting to break that figurative glass ceiling, but it is much more popular in Europe and Taylor, a 2012 London Olympics gold medalist, is a really big deal in her home country, and apt to be even bigger after the way she systematically dismantled the previously unbeaten Volante. Taylor’s Irish fans, many draped in Ireland’s green, white and orange flags, cheered her rapid-fire combinations as if they were at a U2 concert.

“I think she brought the best out of me tonight,” Taylor said of the valiant but outclassed Volante. “It was definitely a great showcase for women’s boxing.”

Taylor has big plans for the remainder of 2019. She hopes to add the fourth and final slice of the women’s 135-pound title pie by enticing WBC champion Delfine Persoon (43-1, 18 KOs) of Belgium into a June 1 bout, on the undercard of IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua’s defense against Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller in Madison Square Garden. Further down the road might be high-visibility, catchweight clashes with undisputed welterweight champ Cecilia Braekhus (35-0, 9 KOs) and Amanda Serrano (36-1-1, 27 KOs).

The first of the three DAZN-streamed fights also was action-packed. Sulecki floored the 33-year-old Rosado in the first and eighth rounds to build a sizable points lead, but Rosado, a two-time challenger for world titles, roared back to register two knockdowns himself in the ninth round and was still firing desperation bombs in the 10^th and final round, narrowing the gap on the scorecards.

In other bouts:

*Welterweight Daniyar Yeleussinov (6-0, 3 KOs), a gold medalist for Kazakhstan at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, fought for the first time with new trainer Cory Spinks in his corner and won his first scheduled eight-rounder on a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Silverio Ortiz (37-24, 18 KOs).

*”Cool Hand” Luke Campbell (20-2, 16 KOs), a lean southpaw from Hull, England, and the WBC’s No. 1-rated lightweight, had the hot hand in stopping Adrian Young (26-6-2, 20 KOs) of Mexico in five rounds.

*In an all-Philly lightweight matchup, Avery Sparrow (10-1, 3 KOs) scored an entertaining 10-round draw over “Hammerin’” Hank Lundy (29-8-1, 14 KOs), who came out in a green-and-white ensemble decorated with his hometown Eagles’ logo.

*Super middleweight D’Mitrius Ballard (20-0, 13 KOs), of Temple Hills, Md., looked sharp in stopping Mexico’s Victor Fonseca (17-10-1, 14 KOs) in five rounds.

*Raymond Ford, a 2018 National Golden Gloves titlist from Camden, N.J., just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, turned pro with a four-round unanimous decision over Weusi Johnson (3-11), of Wilmington, Del.

*Irish-born John Joe Nevin (12-0, 4 KOs), a lightweight now based in Philly, took a six-round unanimous decision over Andres Figueroa (9-4, 5 KOs) of Colombia in a walk-out bout after the main event.

Bernard Fernandez is the retired boxing writer for the Philadelphia Daily News. He is a five-term former president of the Boxing Writers Association of America, an inductee into the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Atlantic City Boxing Halls of Fame and the recipient of the Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism and the Barney Nagler Award for Long and Meritorious Service to Boxing.

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