Tevin Farmer has lightweight title plans after Raymond Muratalla fight

Former junior lightweight titleholder Tevin Farmer believes a lightweight unification superbout between titleholders Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko is anybody’s to lose.

Farmer (33-5-1, 8 KOs), who is billed to fight Raymond Muratalla (20-0, 16 KOs) on Saturday in a Top Rank on ESPN card at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, refused to tip a winner of the 135-pound clash, which is currently being negotiated. 

“I really don’t know who wins. I think it’s a close, even fight,” Farmer said during an interview with BoxingScene. “I feel like Davis has matured more over the years. Loma was already at an elite level. He’s declined a little bit, but he’s still really great. It’s going to be who makes the first mistake. That’s what high-level boxing is. When you have elite fighting elite, it’s really hard to predict. Whoever makes the first mistake is grass. Whoever doesn’t is going to win. But I don’t know until they fight.”

Davis and Farmer were once bitter rivals, although a unification between the two never came to fruition. While Davis has gone on to establish himself as a pound-for-pound force and one of the biggest names in the sport, Farmer is working his way back after losing his title in January 2020 and taking a furlough from the sport, which lasted until June 2023.

Farmer has won three straight and now takes on his first highly ranked opponent since returning. The Philadelphia native says his goal is to ultimately get a crack at one of the world titleholders. “This is in no order, but to me this is the top three: Loma, Davis and Shakur [Stevenson]. They are all unique fighters, so what is there to say?

“As far as what champion I want to face, I think the better option, business-wise, is [WBO titleholder Denis] Berinchyk. I beat him, 100 percent. And then you have four lefty world champions – four southpaws. I don’t know if that’s ever happened.”

For now, Farmer’s focus remains on Muratalla, whom he admits is a dangerous opponent that he can’t afford to look past.

“The guy doesn’t have 16 KOs in 20 fights for no reason,” said Farmer. “But I’ve fought people with more KOs than him and dominated them. You can’t hit what you can’t see. I just have to be me, don’t rush anything and let everything flow. I know my skills alone are going to get the job done, but when I start putting things together in there, it’s going to get hectic.

“Hopefully, God willing, I get by Muratalla on Saturday. And then I get the WBO in September or October.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” back in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].