Refreshed and back in the United States following a well-deserved post-fight vacation in Zanzibar, Tevin Farmer has plenty of thoughts and reflections in the aftermath of his razor-thin split decision loss against William Zepeda, rated #1 in all four major sanctioning bodies.
“Yes, I thought I won, but overall it was an amazing experience,” said Farmer, the former IBF junior lightweight world champion. “I’m always in the gym, but I spent 10 weeks in training camp preparing for this fight. Zepeda’s team expected me to be a boxer, so I switched it up. Zepeda is an aggressive volume puncher and you can’t let fighters like that apply the pressure. You have to be the bully, the one pressing forward and initiating the action. I’m a helluva fighter on the inside, I just never had to bring it out like that before.”
Farmer scored the fight’s lone knockdown with a perfectly timed straight left in the fourth frame, showcasing his trademark accuracy and ring IQ. Zepeda was visibly rattled but managed to recover.
“This was the fifth fight of my comeback, which began last June. Four of my last five opponents have hit the canvas and that now includes the #1 contender at lightweight. I fought a guy that was 31-0, with 27 knockouts, and he gets dropped by a fighter supposedly with no power,” Farmer continued.
“I saw that Zepeda was throwing a lazy jab. I tried to counter it early on, but Zepeda was watching me. Timing is key. In round four, I threw a combination and the second he came back with that lazy jab, I reacted with my straight left.”
Judges Predrag Aleksic, Jun Bae Lim, and Fernando Villarreal each scored the bout 95-94, with two tallies in favor of Zepeda and one for Farmer. All three unanimously awarded Farmer rounds 4, 5, 8, and 10, with Lim’s additional nod in round one making the difference on her card.
“Zepeda was the favorite and a Golden Boy fighter, so I knew I had to finish strong and dominate the last round. His punch output was crazy, but he was standing right in front of me and was there to be hit. Watch the fight and you’ll see I hurt him several times throughout the bout,” said Farmer. “When I heard the decision, I was dejected, but I knew in my heart that I won. Losing a close decision under those circumstances is an unfortunate part of the sport, but the world saw what I can do.”
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