William Zepeda Vs. Tevin Farmer: WBC Interim 135-lb Title At Risk November 16

Next month’s fight between William Zepeda and Tevin Farmer will have the WBC interim lightweight title at stake in their 10-round bout at Latino Night on November 16 at The Venue in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Salvador Rodriguez reports that the World Boxing Council has approved the interim WBC 135-lb belt for the Zepeda vs. Farmer, which will be shown live on DAZN. Having the interim WBC title at stake in the Zepeda-Farmer fight will make it even more interesting. Zepeda is rated #1 by all four heavyweight divisions and is seen by many as a major threat to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’ reign.

If Zepeda defeats Farmer and Shakur in 2025, he will be bringing Baltimore royalty Tank Davis, who wants to unseat him from the mountain to take his carefully guarded throne.

Former IBF super featherweight champion Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) didn’t want the fight to go 12 rounds, which is understandable. Farmer is a mover in Shakur Stevenson’s mold, and it will be easy for him to move for ten rounds.

The 34-year-old Farmer doesn’t have the power, product, or youth to stand up and trade high-pressure volume puncher Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs). It will be difficult for Farmer to finish even six laps at the pace that Zepeda will set on November 16.

This fight is a warm-up for Zepeda before his title challenge against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson on February 22. Farmer wants to get rid of that fight by defeating Zepeda, but his chances of doing so are slim.

It will be interesting to see how long Farmer can last using his foot speed in Shakur’s fighting style. Giovanni Cabrera and Maxi Hughes tried to attack Zepeda but were just blocked and stopped by the Mexican hero. Those two are younger fighters than Farmer and they fight at a higher level than him. He will need to regain his lost youth to have a chance against Zepeda.

Shakur will be scouting Zepeda’s fight. He knows this is the toughest fight he will face in February. A knockout loss to Zepeda would forever ruin Shakur’s dream of a multi-billion dollar fight with Gervonta Davis, and it’s unlikely that promoter Eddie Hearn will try to extend his contract with Matchroom after his current two-fight deal expires.

Hearn has visions of Shakur being transformed into a global star, but Zepeda can bring him down to earth, ending that dream. He won’t be able to keep the player from New Jersey if he is knocked out of the water by Zepeda and against a boxer who is always beaten in his fights in the US.

It can be said that Hearn will make Shakur run if Zepeda rejects him because he will not want to keep him on board and have to pay him big money for few fights. Hearn is not someone who can do the expensive four-fight rebuilding job he did to Anthony Joshua.