If at first you don’t succeed…

Tevin Farmer’s whole career has played to the coda. After starting 7-4-1, Farmer managed not to lose again for over seven years. He won a major title at 130 lbs. and defended four times before Thursday night. Now it’s Farmer’s turn to try, try again.

Joseph Diaz knows what it’s like to come up short. A promising Olympian in 2012, he lost competitively in the round of eight to two-time bronze medalist and three time amatuer world champion Lazaro Alvarez. In his first crack at a major professional title, he gave fellow former Olympian Gary Russell (2008) all he could handle but came up short in a bid for featherweight hardware.

Despite a pornographically wounded left eye, Diaz made his second try the charm. Using an educated left hand over the top, a concentrated body attack, and smart combinations, Diaz largely dominated Farmer to mark himself a player in a very interesting Jr. lightweight field.    

Let’s get into it.

The Future for Diaz: With a new hairdo and increased attitude on social media, Diaz has made over his image in an obvious attempt to increase attention on himself. Delivering in the ring is ultimately what matters and he did that big time against Farmer. There’s plenty of good fights available on paper in his division but can Diaz get them? Fighting under the Golden Boy umbrella means his team will likely have to find a way to open avenues with the Top Rank/ESPN corner of the fighting world. Miguel Berchelt, Oscar Valdez, Olympic teammate Jamel Herring, and Carl Frampton are all mouth watering fights. In the meantime, if Diaz opts to chase more belts, WBA sub-titlist Rene Alvarado won his belt on DAZN. Diaz beat Alvarado in a competitive affair in 2015. Could a rematch be an option?    

The Future for Farmer: Despite his lengthy run, Farmer hasn’t faced a slew of upper tier talent at Jr. lightweight. His performance Thursday will leave some wondering if he’s hit his ceiling. Farmer was outhustled and outmuscled in the affair. If it’s a case where the time has come for Farmer to move to lightweight, we may not see a rematch. If it’s not, Farmer has a rematch clause and it should be his priority. Having a belt was Farmer’s meal ticket more so than most fighters. He’ll need to try to get one back quickly or he could be back in line chasing a mandatory in another class.

Cliff’s Notes…

While complaints about some of the events on Thursday’s card are understandable, we still got two excellent title bouts on the night. That’s more than a glass half full…This scribe had the Murodjon Akhmadaliev-Daniel Roman card even after twelve and after twelve it was, as expected, the fight of the night. Roman fought his heart out and can hope for a rematch. The problem could be the likely continued improvement of Akhmadaliev. At only 8-0 and now a unified titlist, the Uzbek could just be getting started.  

Rold Picks 2020: 2-1 (Including Roman-Akhmadaliev and Andrade-Keeler)

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com