WBC interim lightweight champion William Zepeda and Tevin Farmer are finalizing negotiations for a rematch on March 29 in Cancun, Mexico.
Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) gets a rematch after losing to Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) via a 10-round split decision on Nov. 16 in Riyadh on the Latino Night card.
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Tevin bitterly complained afterwards that he should have gotten the decision. It didn’t seem like it, but it’s understandable why he would be unhappy. Now he gets another payday, but his chances of winning the rematch are non-existent.
The scores
95-94 – Zepeda
95-94 – Farmer
95-94 – Farmer
Some boxing fans saw it as a controversial decision as they felt Farmer, 34, deserved the win. Farmer scored a takedown in the fourth round, landing mainly head shots.
“They are about to finalize the rematch between William Zepeda and Tevin Farmer for March 29th in Cancun. The fight will now be 12 rounds for the interim Lightweight Championship (for WBC),” said Salvador Rodriguez. X.
Zepeda focused almost entirely on the body of Farmer, nailing him with powerful punches that should have easily resulted in him winning a wide decision.
The scoring reflected what this set of judges felt was important to them. Many would have marked it wide for Zepeda based on his punishing work to the body. It wasn’t close.
I had it 9-1 for Zepeda. Farmer won the fourth due to his lightning takedown of Zepeda, but other than that round it was one-sided. Zepeda pounded Farmer’s body in every round of the fight, leaving him looking exhausted by the eighth round.
Farmer has the same outlook as other Zepeda opponents when they have taken too much punishment and need to be pulled out for their own good. It was brave that Farmer stayed there but was not competitive from the eighth round. It was hard to see the old veteran being beaten like that.
Former IBF super featherweight champion Tevin was away and was the equivalent of a punching bag in the last three rounds. Had this been a 12-round fight, Farmer would have been knocked out as he absorbed terrible punishment in the final two rounds.
It was similar when Farmer fought Raymond Muratalla on July 13, 2024. Farmer was competitive for seven rounds but took a beating from the eighth round and was lucky to see the final bell.
In the final two rounds, Zepeda was throwing 100+ punches per round, and Farmer looked like a victim being overworked. Surprisingly, the judges had this mismatch close. A rematch isn’t necessary, but it would silence the fans who felt Farmer was robbed.
Zepeda should win this fight and look good to mount a title challenge against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, provided he prevails in his February 22 fight against Floyd Schofield.
