By: Sean Crose
“July 27 will be the fourth defense of my world title in just under one year,” says the (29-4-1) IBF world super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer. “There is no other world champion as active as me and I don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. I’m only 28 years old and I’m still learning and still improving each and every time I step in the ring.” Over the past year, the Baltimore native has fought an unheard of (by today’s standards) five times, and has gone everywhere from Australia to Boston to New York to his native Philadelphia in order to ply his trade.
March 15, 2019; Philadelphia, PA, USA; IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer after winning his bout at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing USA
Now Farmer will be fighting in Texas as one of the highlights of a live card that will be aired on the DAZN streaming service from Arlington’s College Park Center. His opponent will be Guillaume Frenois (46-1-1) of Saint-Quentin, France. “It is no secret that there are major fights out there for me in the division,” says Farmer, “but I need to take care of business first with Frenois, who has had a lot to say. July 27 is going to be my best performance yet.” The southpaw Frenois, of course, has other plans. He may not be a huge name with huge wins on his resume, but the Frenchman has suffered just a single defeat in his entire career, and that was almost six years ago.
Still, all eyes are on Farmer as he continues to make his mark on the super featherweight division. “Tevin Farmer is a throwback warrior,” says promoter Lou DiBella, “who believes that a true champion defends his title at every possible opportunity.” After spending some time under the radar, Farmer is determined to let his presence be felt by remaining active. “Against Frenois,” DiBella says, “Tevin will be fighting his fifth world title fight in one year and will put an exclamation point on a historic 12-month run. With his mandatory obligation out of the way, the stage will be set for an even more historic next 12 months and beyond for Tevin.”
British super promoter Eddie Hearn is equally effusive of Farmer’s current place in the fight game “I am delighted to add another world title fight to this huge night of boxing on DAZN,” he says. “Tevin has been America’s most active world Champion over the last year and just needs to get past this to land the big one in the fall.” There has been much talk of Farmer facing fellow super featherweight titlist Gervonta Davis, though the two fight on different platforms, and for different promoters. In fact, Davis himself will be defending his WBA world title against Ricardo Nunez in Maryland the same night Farmer throws down with Frenois in Arlington.
Although both Farmer and Davis have been criticized recently for their level of competition, Hearn makes it a point to present Frenois as a legitimate challenge. “Frenois gave Jono (Carroll) a great fight when they battled to a draw last year,” he says, “and will come to Dallas full of ambition.”