Joseph Diaz Jr. isn’t opposed to giving Tevin Farmer the rematch Farmer believes he is owed.

The IBF junior lightweight champion just wants to be treated fairly. Diaz informed BoxingScene.com that one of the primary reasons he wasn’t willing to go forward with their immediate rematch was because he would’ve been paid less than Farmer for it, despite that he defeated Farmer in their 130-pound title fight a year ago.

Diaz was allowed to proceed with his mandated championship defense against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov on February 13 because the window within a Farmer rematch was contractually stipulated to take place expired.

“The fight didn’t materialize because of the coronavirus and the IBF ended up ordering me to fight Rakhimov,” Diaz told BoxingScene.com. “I accepted the challenge and I’ve got a deal with Rakhimov now. But like I’ve said in previous interviews, I’m willing to fight Tevin Farmer again. It just has got to make sense. It has got to make sense where everything is looking right. If everything makes sense, if Tevin Farmer and his team come up with the right numbers for myself, we can definitely make the fight happen again.”

Farmer expected an immediate rematch after losing to Diaz last January 30 in Miami. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed talks for several months, but they couldn’t come to an agreement thereafter, either.

The two sides have bickered back and forth on social media, but Diaz doesn’t feel he owes Farmer anything if he is not going to be paid appropriately.

“They’re saying that I wanted to take the ‘A’ side,” Diaz said. “I do wanna take the ‘A’ side. They’re saying they weren’t trying to be the ‘A’ side, but you know, you getting more money for the fight is basically being the ‘A’ side. And that’s basically what he was gonna be getting for the rematch. So, I’m like, it doesn’t make sense. You guys are talking nonsense for nothing. You guys are talking bullsh--.

“If you guys really wanna make the fight happen, you have to take the cut from you guys’ purse, give it to me and we can make the fight happen. I told my team that, I told my lawyers to tell them that, and nothing ended up materializing. That’s when we ended up going after this mandatory. So, I’ve gotta take care of this guy. After this fight, if they wanna come right with the money, then we can make the fight happen.”

The 28-year-old Diaz (31-1, 15 KOs), of Downey, California, and Tajikistan’s Rakhimov (15-0, 12 KOs) will headline DAZN’s stream February 13 from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. In the 12-round co-feature, Brazil’s Patrick Teixeira (31-1, 22 KOs) will make a mandatory defense of his WBO junior middleweight title against Argentina’s Brian Castano (16-0-1, 12 KOs).

Philadelphia’s Farmer (30-5-1, 6 KOs, 1 NC) doesn’t have a fight scheduled. The 30-year-old southpaw hasn’t boxed since Diaz defeated him by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder.

Diaz would consider fighting Farmer next, if he is successful versus Rakhimov.

“I just let them talk all their bullsh-- and nonsense,” Diaz said, “because I know what I’m capable of doing and I know that I’m not afraid and I’m not ducking. I just want what’s right for myself and want what’s right for my career and for my family. I wanna take care of my family, so it has got to make sense for me both financially and it has to make sense for me being the ‘A’ side. So, we’ll see what happens.” 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.