All photos by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
If it’s true that life is a marathon, not a sprint, then 26-year-old Tevin Farmer (24-5-1, 5 KOs) has his Sketchers strapped on tight and is pulling away from the pack.
Times have certainly changed for the Philadelphia southpaw since his professional debut in 2011, a stoppage loss against a fighter named Oscar Santana, who was also engaging in his first professional bout.
In the early days of Farmer’s career, while having exceptional instincts and natural skill, he was self-managed and trained. As is often the case with unprivileged boxing hopefuls with bills to pay, he frequently took fights on short notice for short money.
As a result, Farmer dropped four of his first 12 professional fights (all against undefeated fighters) as well as being held to a draw, his last loss coming against recently dethroned champion, Jose Pedraza.
In 2012, a friend of Farmer’s family named Marcus Marrone, a successful auto body entrepreneur, took keen interest after watching him in spirited sparring sessions with Danny Garcia as Garcia prepped for his match with Zab Judah.
Maronne saw Farmers potential, moved him to New Jersey and assigned him a strength trainer and educated nutritionist which resulted in immediate results for the young prospect.
Farmer’s supremely entertaining, old school slip-and-counter in the pocket skills sharpened as he was able to focus solely on conditioning and training. He has since notched 18 straight victories and continues to garner network attention and picked up the NABF Super Featherweight strap along the way.
With his star on the rise, a clash with tough Cuban veteran Yuriorkis Gamboa would be a great career move as it relates to exposure and upward mobility should he emerge victorious. Gamboa has lost only once, against Top 10 pound-for-pound fighter Terence Crawford.
The casual fans who don’t know Tevin Farmer will look at the record of both fighters and minimize the matchup. These same fans will be very surprised with a dazzling performance by the young Philly fighter who is making a living from being underestimated.
This match is absolutely the best next step for Farmer. Should he emerge victorious from it, he will force the hand of promoters who are reluctant to put their prospect in the ring with someone once viewed as a spoiler.
The potential result could be a title shot against the very young, newly crowned IBF Super Featherweight boss, Gervonta “Tank” Davis (17-0, 16 KOs).
There appears to be an ongoing beef between Farmer and Davis, however it is unclear if it will manifest itself into a fight until Farmer posts a big win against a recognized name such as the aforementioned Gamboa.
Stylistically, these are both very appealing fights that should bring some very well-deserved attention to the smaller divisions.
As it stands at this moment, Farmer is tightening the laces on his Sketchers and limbering up, the great race is before him in 2017. Ready…set…
