Tevin Farmer is looking to make a move, up the scale from junior lightweight to lightweight. Jo Jo Diaz might have another description for what Farmer is doing.
Looking up can sometimes mean looking past an immediate challenge.
That challenge is Diaz, who promises to make Farmer pay in a 130-pound bout for Farmer’s title Thursday on DAZN, a boxing preliminary before the Kansas City Chiefs-San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl in Miami this weekend.
“I can’t wait to shut this guy up,” Diaz (30-1 15 KOs) said in a conference call.
Lots of talk has been exchanged in the weeks before the fight at Meridian at Island Gardens was announced.
Diaz, Farmer says, is a tough fighter, yet he also says he would be “a good name on my resume.’’ It’s almost as if Farmer is applying for a job, a new role as a lightweight contender.
“After I win, I think I have one or two more fights at 130 pounds and then I’ll move up, especially if the big fights don’t happen,” said Farmer (30-4-1 6 KOs), who will make a fifth defense of a belt he won with a unanimous decision over Billy Dibb in August 2018 in Australia. “It’s not frustrating. I want the unification fights and I want to be undisputed. But as long as I am still fighting and feeding my family, I am OK with that.’’
Meanwhile, Farmer suggests that a fighter without a plan is just a fool without a future. He says he doesn’t overlook anybody.
“Talk about overlooking people is overused as you have to plan for the future, but it’s my future and I won’t let any other fighter determine my career,’’ said Farmer, a 29-year-old fighter from Philadelphia. “You don’t want to fight me, we move on. I will make my legacy with what I do and who I fight.
“I don’t care what anyone else does. It’s all down to me.’’
Diaz promises to do plenty.
“Trust me, I have got everything to capitalize and land the shots to hurt him, slow him down and land devastating shots,’’ said Diaz, who lost a decision to featherweight champ Gary Russell Jr. in his only other world title bid in May 2018. “I don’t see it going 12 rounds. I think I will hurt him and make him feel my shots.
“I’m happy and ready to go 12 rounds with him, though. I’m not going to go in swinging for the fence. That’s what he wants. I’ll fight a smart fight.”