It is southpaw against southpaw on Friday night as Philadelphian Tevin Farmer aims to successfully retain his IBF World super-featherweight title for the third time against Irish fan favourite Jono Carroll.
After controversially falling short to Kenichi Ogawa in 2017, Farmer rebounded in impressive fashion to beat Billy Dib down under to capture the vacant belt, before defending his crown twice with two dominant performances against respected contenders Francesco Fonseca and James Tennyson respectively.
Carroll, meanwhile, is undefeated in 17 fights after his December draw with Guillerme Frenois in Sheffield, and the charismatic Dubliner will no doubt be inspired by the exploits of his super-bantamweight counterpart TJ Donehy who similarly achieved World title glory as an underdog on away soil against Ryosuke Iwasa in August.
Winning a World title is generally regarded as the pinnacle of a fighter’s career, and this is something that Carroll recognises. As someone who has already garnered a popular following, he understands the importance of victory for his legacy. It would certainly propel his career to new heights in terms of augmenting his ever-increasing fanbase, and also allow him to make Irish boxing history.
Indeed, the latter is something that WBA and IBF lightweight champion Katie Taylor – chief support on the card – has unquestionably already done. However, the Bray native – who promoter Eddie Hearn describes in no uncertain terms as a ‘pioneer’ for women’s boxing – is keen to make even more history by unifying the division and facing the best possible challengers.
Following an imperious display against Cindy Serrano in October and a victory over Eva Wahlstrom in Madison Square Garden, Taylor seeks to add the WBO belt to her collection against undefeated Brazillian Rose Volante. A showdown for the undisputed title against WBC counterpart Delfine Persoon – if not bouts with Amanda Cerrano or free agent Chantelle Cameron – potentially await.
Following a contentious defeat to Luis Arias, Gabriel Rosado now faces middleweight contender Maciej Sulecki for the right to challenge WBO World champion Demetrius Andrade. Expect Rosado to produce a characteristically tenacious display but nonetheless fall short on points as the Pole looks to work his way into World title contention, following his setback against Daniel Jacobs in September.
Article by: Navi Singh
Follow Navi on Twitter at: @DarkMan________