Philly boxer Tevin Farmer is back in the ring with a new demeanor: ‘He’s just more mentally focused’

Tevin Farmer had a bitter taste in his mouth after he lost his IBF 130-pound title in January 2020.

In a unanimous decision, Joseph Diaz Jr., a former Olympian, claimed the super featherweight crown, taking away the North Philly boxer’s championship. Besides disappointment, the loss of a title he held since 2018 brought other complications with contracts, trainers, and, eventually, questions about his purpose in boxing.

“I’m a ‘it is what it is’ type of guy,” Farmer said. “I’ve got to keep moving, that’s all it was. I don’t dwell on nothing, I ain’t cried because you just move forward. I’ve got to come back better.”

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Farmer (30-5-1, 6 knockouts) did not compete in the ring for two years. While the pandemic played a part in that, Farmer saw the time as an opportunity to train at his own pace. Now, the 32-year-old is facing Mickey Bey (23-3-1, 11 KOs) on Friday at Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Ariz.

The 5-foot-6 fighter wants a shot at another title and sees the match against Bey as a test for what’s to come next in his boxing career. The last two years have taught Farmer to stay disciplined. He moved up a weight class to 135 pounds and put more power behind his punches.

“It was good for him to be able to just sit down and analyze the way he wants to go,” said Raul Rivas, Farmer’s trainer. “It gave him the time to acknowledge and realize that this time, this might be my last merry-go-round, so I have to go 100 percent. I have to do what’s best, and I’ve got to make the right decisions.”

During his fight against Diaz, Farmer hurt his hand in the first round and couldn’t use his jab. Diaz capitalized on the injury. It was an emotional day for Farmer and everyone in his corner. Farmer thought his contract guaranteed an immediate rematch, but that never came before the deadline expired.

“He completely dominated 12 rounds,” Rivas said. “He was in bad shape, but learning from that fight is that we just had to be more offensive than defensive. We needed to let the judges see that we are more aggressive when we fought a guy who was aggressive.”

Rivas, who has built other professional boxers like Jason Sosa, who held the WBA super featherweight title from 2016-17, did not believe the plan was executed during Farmer’s fight. Rivas also felt his team failed to follow his directions.

It took almost two months to get over the fight, but Farmer eventually got back into the ring with Rivas. The two have built that trust over the last 10 years of working together.

Farmer didn’t start boxing until he was 19 years old. He and his brother, Mell, went to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. recreation center on Cecil B. Moore Avenue, where Farmer was first introduced to the sport.

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The Strawberry Mansion native didn’t take boxing too seriously. He was told by most trainers that he was too late to start a boxing career since most of his opponents had been competing as kids.

Farmer had 16 amateur fights before turning professional. He hit a pivotal point when he was 7-4-1 in his pro career. During his four losses, Farmer ran out of stamina and took a beating after he got tired. Farmer felt it was time to re-evaluate how he trained.

“Doing more research on my craft, watching boxing, getting out of Philly, moving to New Jersey, started to eat better,” Farmer said. “And how I knew I needed to do that because I took four losses in the beginning of my career. I was basically like, ‘I’m not going to go out like this,’ because anything I ever did, I was good at it.”

After that, he connected with Rivas, and there was instant chemistry between the two.

“That’s when he really knew that if I put the right team behind me, I could do something,” Rivas said. “That the young man will fight Friday, he’s in the gym on Saturday. He was so determined. ... Fight, gym, fight.”

Rivas was there for Farmer during times of adversity. In 2017, Farmer was shot in his left hand at his niece’s birthday party after an altercation during which he attempted to disarm a person holding the gun. Doctors said he would never box again.

However, Farmer didn’t take no for an answer and was determined to get back in the ring.

“His hand was frozen,” Rivas said. “He couldn’t close it, and then we started massage therapy. He would still go to the gym with one hand; he would not miss the gym. It’s crazy. Anybody else, pretty much just hang the gloves. No, he stayed.

“We got back into rebuilding the hand over again, and next thing you know, he’s fighting.”

Despite all odds, Farmer achieved his dream of becoming a world champion in 2018 against Australian boxer Billy Dib and defended that title four times.

Farmer doesn’t view any challenge as too tough after all he has endured. Even after taking a two-year break, he said he’s prepared for what it’ll take to get back to the biggest stage in boxing.

“He’s just more mentally focused,” Rivas said. “He understands that we have to work hard to get back to that level, again, so he’s just been really focused, listening, understanding, and putting the work in.”