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Tevin Farmer and Billy Dib make weight for vacant IBF junior lightweight title bout

Fighters Network
02
Aug

Both Tevin Farmer and Billy Dib made weight for their vacant IBF junior lightweight title clash, Friday night, at Technology Park in Redfern, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.

At Thursday morning’s weigh-in, both Farmer and Dib weighed in at 129.5 pounds.

ESPN+ will begin streaming the card at 6:15 a.m. ET. The Farmer-Dib bout is scheduled to begin no earlier than 7:30 a.m. ET/ 4:30 a.m. PT.

Farmer (25-4-1, 5 knockouts) last fought on December 9 against Kenichi Ogawa in Las Vegas. The southpaw Farmer would originally lose by split decision in a fight many media at ringside thought Farmer won.



The result of the fight was overturned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after Ogawa tested positive for androstanediol, a banned substance. The findings came after Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) conducted a urine test days before the fight.

The IBF would later strip Ogawa of the title, later ordering Dib and Farmer, its two highest-ranked contenders, to square off for the vacant title. Dib is ranked No. 3 by the IBF and Farmer is ranked one spot below Dib.

Farmer, who resides in Philadelphia, had won his previous 18 bouts leading up to the Ogawa fight. Farmer’s most recent win occurred on April 29 of last year, a 10 round unanimous decision over Arturo Santos Reyes. Farmer spent weeks in rehab after getting shot in his right hand, during a family event three months after the Reyes fight.

The 28-year-old Farmer is confident he will be victorious fighting near Dib’s hometown of Sydney.

“I had the best training camp of my career,” said Farmer earlier this week. “I can’t wait for Friday, and to become a world champion. I know everything happens for a reason in life, and everything I’ve gone through has brought me to Sydney to win the IBF junior lightweight world title.

Lou DiBella, who promotes Farmer, agrees. DiBella also promotes Dib.

“I’m thrilled for Tevin that he gets to right a wrong in the fight with Billy Dib,” said DiBella. “I respect Billy Dib, who’s been a friend for years. I know he’ll be bringing his A-game but I know that Tevin is ready.

“When I signed Tevin almost four years ago, I promised to give him an opportunity to fight for a world title. In his last fight, he should have been crowned a champion. I look forward to watching Tevin fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a world champion this Friday.”

Dib (43-4, 24 KOs) has not fought since December 2, when he defeated veteran Phum Kunmat by a wide unanimous decision over eight rounds.

The 32-year-old Dib is unbeaten in his last five bouts since losing by knockout to Takashi Miura in May of 2015.

Junior middleweight Tim Tszyu (9-0, 7 KOs), the son of former undisputed junior welterweight champion Kostya Tsyzu, will face Indonesia’s Steven Ongen Ferdinandus (27-15-1, 14 KOs), in a 10-round bout.

Hard-hitting Brock Jarvis (13-0, 12 KOs) will square off against Yotchanchai Yakaeo (26-11, 21 KOs), in a 10-round junior featherweight bout.

 

 

 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV.com since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, BoxingScene.com and FightNight.com. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing.

 

 

 

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