Diaz Jr. Finally Lives Out his Dream of Becoming a Champion, Defeats Farmer to Win IBF World Title

By Tré Berry III🖊️

One of the most hard-lucked talents in boxing finally breaks through on the big stage, as Mexican-American 🇺🇸Joseph “Jo Jo” Diaz Jr. (31-1-0, 15KO👊) becomes the new IBF Super-Featherweight World Titlist after beating 🇺🇸Tevin “American Idol” Farmer (30-5-1, 6KO👊) by way of Unanimous decision in a very impressive performance that opens the door wide for the range of opportunities that are now in viewing range.

Farmer apparently hurt his right hand in the first round, but it didn’t discourage him from flicking the jab and putting emphasis on it. A nasty wide cut was opened over Jo Jo’s 👁️left eye, which bled profusely, which was caused by an inadvertent headbutt. Farmer being the most elusive defensive fighter in the sport, was getting found in spots with Jo Jo’s straight left thrown as a counter, and Jo Jo would look to work the body exclusively in clinches. Farmer had some issues finding the openings he was looking to exploit, and Diaz continued to move forward, timing Farmer, as well as changing up the speed on his punches to somewhat confuse Farmer enough to freeze frame him for a split second which enabled him to be hit than normally accustomed to throughout the first half of the contest.

Round 8 was a strong round as we got some toe to toe action in what turned into a battle of wills in that instant. Farmer started to stand more flat-footed, looking to beat Diaz in exchanges and trying to throw his weight around. Coming into this fight, Farmer believed he was the bigger, stronger fighter, and he wanted to exert that on Diaz, however what he found out was that Diaz was the physically stronger of the two fighters, and couldn’t move Diaz off of his marker. Down the last few minutes of the fight, they fought tooth and nail, but Farmer could not get the upper hand, or land something of significance to hurt Diaz as Jo Jo was firing away at both the head and the body successfully.

There were many excuses being made by 🎤DAZN broadcasters predicated to Farmer’s personal performance instead of rationalizing what certain things were taking place that allowed Jo Jo to execute the way he wanted to. One thing that does hold water though is that Farmer was uncharacteristically tired and lethargic, perhaps early signs of Farmer’s struggle in making the weight. Some media pundits had noted that Farmer looked a bit starched and gaunt in the week’s lead up to the fight. Farmer during the week also stated that he feels that he only has a couple fights left at the Super-Featherweight division, which could be interpreted as Farmer understanding that his body is beginning to go through strenuous conditions to make the weight. Now if Farmer came in without the conditioning issue, there’s still no telling if he was to win this fight, as Jo Jo put together an excellent performance.

Diaz over the years has been the supremely skilled, overlooked fighter who was 🐍snake-bit with a string of bad luck, and often forgotten by some due to lack of promotion, so it was good for Diaz to finally line all his chips up and put together the type of performance that I know he is capable of delivering on a regular basis. The 12th and final bell sounded, and Diaz celebrated immediately, feeling that he had dominated the fight to the point where it couldn’t possibly go the other way on the scorecards. He was right, as all 3 judges would have it in Diaz favor, and upon 🗣️Ring-Announcer David Diamonte saying “…and the new!” Diaz broke down with emotion upon realization that he finally got the big win that has eluded him over the last handful of years.

There was mutual respect shared between the two combatants post-fight, with Diaz stating that Farmer is one hell of a fighter, and with Farmer giving Diaz a full congratulations despite the circumstances. There is a re-match clause in their 📋contract, so we may see this match take place again. The question is whether it will come in immediate fashion, or somewhere down the line? For Diaz, he can rejoice and bring his new IBF Super-Featherweight back to Southern California, finally fulfilling his destiny of becoming a World Champion after putting together a strong amateur campaign.

Two Verbal Rivals Will Finally Meet Inside the Ring as Jo Jo Diaz Fights Tevin Farmer on Thursday:

When two boxers (or individuals in general) are ↕️diametrically opposed towards one another, a rivalry can form even prior to them engaging in combat, and that is exactly what we have here. What has started out as a slow simmer has boiled over, as IBF Super-Featherweight Champion 🇺🇸Tevin “American Idol” Farmer (30-4-1, 6KO👊) and elite Super-Featherweight contender 🇺🇸Joseph “Jo Jo” Diaz Jr. (30-1-0, 15KO👊) will finally settle their differences in the ring.

01/27/2020 | The Tevin Farmer/Jo Jo Diaz Jr. Fight Breakdown

TEVIN “AMERICAN IDOL” FARMER

Tevin Farmer has been on a roll lately, especially after signing his DAZN contract that has allowed him to seek and get fights at an active rate, and has racked up 4 Title defenses in the last 15-16 months. Starting as a late bloomer, he had taken his lumps, starting his career off at 2 wins, 2 losses and a draw, and soon following, dropping a bout via TKO stoppage to future Titlist 🇵🇷Jose “Sniper” Pedraza. Once he decidedly sat down to fully dedicate himself to the sport, he has transformed his career to where he has won 23 consecutive fights.

During his turnaround in the win column, he has also had massive improvements in his skill-set and boxing IQ throughout every outing, to where he is now an elite craftsman, who can make the argument of being the best fighter in the Super-Featherweight division, as well as also being the slickest defensive fighter in the sport currently. Being the great-great nephew of Hall-of-Fame Lightweight legend 👑🇺🇸Joe “Old Master” Gans may have sped up his maturation process, as greatness is attached to his 🧬DNA.

With that being stated, it was mainly the work that Farmer has put in that has 🔓unlocked most of his potential up to this point. On Thursday he will have by far the most difficult test of his Title run in dealing with another sharp craftsman, who is dead-set on breaking into the Title picture.

JOSEPH “JO JO” DIAZ JR.

Joseph Diaz Jr. throughout the last few years has been one of the most skilled fighters campaigning between the ⚖️126 and ⚖️130 lb. divisions. While he is vastly under-promoted by GoldenBoy Promotions, the switch-hitting slick counter-puncher has been putting together impressive highlights against solid competition among his way up to top-contender status, impressing boxing pundits as he looks to crack the barrier that has prevented him from winning a World Title up to this point. His first crack at a Title came against WBC Featherweight Titlist 🇺🇸“Mr.” Gary Russell Jr. on May 19th, 2018. It was a spirited, close fight, but Russell edged it out with a victory to retain his Title. Diaz suffered a hand injury in that fight, however Russell also experienced a hand injury of his own, but he handled his situation a little bit better to get some control of the fight in the second half.

Diaz 3 months following that contest would fight for a secondary Title against 🇺🇸Jesus M. Rojas, and while Diaz beat him, he came in a fraction overweight to this Featherweight match, thus the Title becoming vacant upon his victory. That fight I would not personally deem as Diaz being undisciplined or in having a lack of dedication to make the weight. In fact he had nothing else that he could possibly burn off as his struggles making the 126 lb limit while having a natural 130 lb frame, so unfortunately for him, his time at Featherweight officially ran out, and it took away his opportunity to win a Title there. Naturally following, he moved up to Super-Featherweight where he looks to be far more comfortable at. He had easily dispatched of 🇺🇸Charles Huerta and 🇳🇮Freddy Fonseca, but had a difficult time with 🇻🇪Jesus Cuadro in his last outing, looking rather lethargic, and even bored at times fighting Cuadro until he took over late to secure the victory. Perhaps that was Diaz ploy to making it easier to get the Farmer fight by looking vulnerable in his previous outing, but here is another crack at the Title picture for Diaz, the third times the charm? we will see.

The smack talking stops here, and the verbal arguments are turned over to the fists to do the talking for them. Tevin Farmer wants added respect to his name as not just one of the divisions best fighters, but also in being looked as one of boxing’s best, and these are the type of matches to get up for if you’re a Champion looking to stake a claim. For Jo Jo Diaz, he is a beast whenever he is motivated, and I can say with 100% certainty that he will come with his best effort, so we should get a high quality Championship prizefight on Thursday night. This fight will be fought in the 🏟️Meridians at Island Gardens in Miami, Florida. Tune into 💻DAZN to catch a full, interesting card of fights, as this fight serves as the co-headliner to the overall event.