Big Return For Tevin Farmer, Beterbiev Takes Controversial Decision Win, Ohara Davies Decimated by Azim!

Tevin Farmer is one of boxing's true feel-good stories. In his earlier days, Farmer floated just below the radar. The headlines constantly featured the competition, and not him. Tevin Farmer was truly a hidden gem despite his consistent displays of poise and defensive prowess in the ring.

A Twitter post from Farmer sums on October 1st sums this up perfectly. “I may not be the biggest star in boxing,” Farmer begins, “but I'm definitely the voice of this ish. When fighters are down and think it's no hope, I'm the one they look at and say, damn, Tev did it. I can too. My story alone is second to none.” Farmer is best known for his IBF Super-Featherweight World Championship reign, which began in 2018 and ended in 2020. The match that lost him the IBF's version of the world championship at super-featherweight was against JoJo Diaz, a controversial decision that left both men in limbo. Farmer injured his right hand in the first round, which severely crippled his ability to jab from the southpaw stance.

Later in the match, Farmer and Diaz clashed heads several times. Diaz walked away from the fight with Farmer's belt but wasn't the same again. In the match, Diaz was stripped of his title because he failed to make weight- which many believe is due to the damage he took from Farmer. Farmer left boxing for three years, while Diaz struggled against world-class competition after moving up to lightweight.

Farmer made his triumphant return last year against Avery Sparrow, cruising to a 10-round unanimous decision victory. After this impressive show of boxing, Farmer proved he still has power in his hands by knocking out Oscar Barajas and Alan Castillo in 2024, tune-ups meant to reintroduce him at the world level. This was enough to get the attention of Top Rank, who matched him up with one of their prized in-house prospects, Raymond Muratalla. An undefeated lightweight ranked 6th worldwide, Muratalla was the favorite and A-side in the match.

The boxing public did not discredit Farmer, but the key talking points of the match were Farmer's previous inactivity and the fact that his last two opponents did not have impressive records. Regardless of the chatter, Farmer proved that he is still a credible threat at the world level by outboxing Muratalla across the 10-round stretch. His stellar performance against a rising Muratalla did not earn him the victory, however. According to CompuBox, Farmer outlanded Muratalla cleanly in five rounds of the match. The final punch stat report shows that Farmer landed 109 total punches to Muratalla's 106.

The boxing community was divided on who won the match, but a large number of pundits believed that Farmer at least fought to a draw despite his point deduction for holding. The unconvincing performance from Muratalla boosted Farmer's stock, which catapulted him to a Riyadh Season card planned for November 16th. Farmer is now set to compete for the WBC Interim Lightweight World Championship against William Zepeda, currently ranked 1st in the lightweight division.

Zepeda has been eyeing a world title opportunity for months, and this match with Farmer gets him one step closer. However, the winner of the contest will be removed from all other sanctioning bodies ranking systems and made mandatory for Shakur Stevenson's WBC Lightweight World Championship, as per the WBC's rules. This fight is sure to keep fans in their seats because of the unique styles that will be on display. In the words of the great Shawn Porter, “Styles make fights.” Zepeda averages over 100 punches thrown per round, which should put in perspective just how well Farmer will have to defend throughout the match.

[Artur Beterbiev Takes Controversial 12-RD Decision!]

The clash between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol received plenty of attention from the press. The contest crowned the first Undisputed Light-Heavyweight World Champion, but it was not to the likings of the international boxing community. Artur Beterbiev left the ring holding the WBC, WBO, IBF, WBA, IBO Light-Heavyweight World Championships. Whether or not Beterbiev deserved the win depends on who you ask.

Eddie Hearn would say that Bivol was subject to one of the biggest robberies in boxing history. Tim Bradley Jr., who went back and scored the fight after commentating it live, would say that Beterbiev won the match fair and square. Regardless of what your beliefs are, the win for Beterbiev was highly controversial. Storms of angry fans took to social media platforms to harass Beterbiev and his team, who themselves admitted that he could have performed better on the night.

Bivol, visibly distraught during his post-fight interview, made no excuses for his loss. Despite the fact that the match was for all five belts in the weight class, the records of both men are important to discuss as well. This was Bivol's first loss in his professional career, which made the scoring of his performance sting much worse. Beterbiev and Bivol both entered Saudi Arabia as undefeated world champions, which hyped the fight up even more. With his undefeated record sullied by a controversial decision, the Bivol team feels that there must be a correction in the system.

Bivol's manager openly lambasted the judging, accusing one judge of corruption caused by ties with Chechnya. “It’ll [the 116-112 scorecard in favor of Artur Beterbiev] be protested on Monday. I’m talking to Eddie [Hearn], I’m talking to everybody,” Kornilov stated in an interview with BoxNation. “At the end of a day, we all know that [protesting scores] doesn’t work, but the judge has to at least [take] some sort of [accountability], in his mind, for what he did.“ Team Bivol also took the extra step of petitioning for an immediate rematch with all of the sanctioning bodies, which would push back any mandatory title defenses Beterbiev may have. The victory for Beterbiev has certainly launched him to new heights in the sport, but there will always be a dark cloud around the match.

An immediate rematch between the two men and an investigation the judge who produced the faulty scorecard would be a just decision to make, but it is unclear whether or not Turki Al-Al-Sheikh, Top Rank. And Matchroom will collaborate again to make it happen.

[Ohara Davies Crushed in Retirement Match Against Adam Azim!]

Ohara Davies, similar to Tevin Farmer, has an interesting story in the sport of boxing. Davies has used his platform on YouTube to discuss the inner workings of the boxing industry. From promotional deals to fighter pay, and even scoring corruption, Davies has left no stone unturned. His career has often left him criticized by big promoters like Eddie Hearn because of his unapologetic nature.

In fact, Davies and Hearn had one of the biggest public disputes under the Matchroom banner. Davies made remarks about Matchroom, Hearn, and the British newspaper publication The Sun in 2018, which coincided with Davies' exit from the promotion. Davies signed with the ill-fated MTK Global after this, picking up victories against Miguel Vasquez, Logan Yoon, and Jeff Ofori.

Hearn and Davies would not clash until five years later at the Lara vs. Wood 2 event. "I'm not apologizing! I think I did what was right," Hearn began aggressively. "You think I was wrong, you took another deal or whatever.." Ohara waited patiently to speak while Hearn ranted about the situation, smiling and nodding his head. "I'm angry because you're going about lying that I got kicked out of Matchroom." Whatever narrative you choose to believe, Davies eventually made his way back onto Matchroom and DAZN cards for his latest two contests. The first was against Ismael Barroso, who he was brutally knocked out by. The second was against rising contender Adam Azim, who has strung together a series of spectacular performances to remain undefeated.

The contest between Davies and Azim was highly competitive, representing a changing of the guard in the super-lightweight division. Davies fought behind an educated jab in the first round, opening the fight well in a battle of the front foot. Azim loaded up with jabs to the body, but couldn't shake Davies' offensive pressure.

In the second round, Azim used his footwork to give Davies a different look offensively. Davies responded by raising his guard, shelling up tightly. Upon Azim stepping into jab, Davies swung wildly with the left hook. This indicator was what Azim needed to develop a game plan mid-match against Davies. The fast-twitch response from Davies was dangerous, but it left him open due to how wide his hook was. Azim understood this and began to use this to his advantage.

The trend of Davies biting down and throwing the left hook continued through the third and fourth rounds, creating counter opportunities for Azim. In the opening to the fifth round, Azim began to level change. Davies threw a left hook off of his back foot, which was read easily by Azim. He threw a devastating left shovel hook to Davies' body, dropping him against the ropes. Davies rose for the count, but struggled to mount significant attacks for the rest of the round.

He once again shelled up behind a high guard, using his feet and head movement to avoid Azim's pressure. Davies escaped the round with one knockdown against him, with a similar trend following until the eighth round. Davies continued to rely on the left and right hooks in response to Azim's straight punches, which Azim slipped and returned uppercuts against. Davies used his lead hand to create distance between himself and Azim, which was also unsuccessful. Azim threw another soul-crushing left hook to Davies' body, dropping him for the second and final time. Davies struggled to get to his feet, but the fight was stopped by his corner. Davies' head coach waved the towel in from their corner, putting a cap on Azim's stellar performance.

The fight ended with no need for the judges, it was clear Azim was working towards a finish after he dropped Davies in the fifth round. The two men embraced at the center of the ring in a display of sportsmanship all British combat sports athletes applauded. Davies said that this match with Azim would most likely be his last, wrapping up his 10-year boxing career at 25-4-0, 18 of those victories ending in a knockout.

Azim improved to 12-0 on the night, increasing his ranking to 12th worldwide. Davies fell to 96th internationally, but upon his official retirement, he will most likely be removed. Azim can now look to bigger fights, such as a match with former Teofimo Lopez opponent Steve Claggett, or domestic rival Dalton Smith, ranked just below him.