PHILADELPHIA — Tevin Farmer and Jono Carroll definitely didn’t hold back from hurling vitriol at each other all promotion long, heading into their fight.
Well, now, the time for talking is over. Farmer (28-4-1, 6 KOs) will look to defend his IBF junior lightweight title Friday night, when he takes on Carroll (16-0-1, 3 KOs) at Temple University’s Liacouras Center — roughly five minutes from the champ's stomping grounds in Philadelphia.
MORE: Sign up for DAZN and watch boxing and MMA live in Canada
Winning — and doing it convincingly — could inch Farmer closer to landing a title-unification bout with WBA junior lightweight champion Gervonta Davis.
In fact, Farmer and his Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn are prepared to publicly call out “Tank” Davis with an offer in tow late Friday night. But, of course, that means getting past Carroll first.
“After Friday, then we could talk about the ‘Tank’ fight and what’s Tevin Farmer getting paid,” Farmer told Sporting News earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, Carroll is viewing his U.S. debut and world title shot as an opportunity to change his life and play spoiler to Farmer’s grand plans.
“I’m coming away with that belt no matter what,” Carroll told SN earlier in the week.
By the looks of their heated face-to-face confrontation at the weigh-in Thursday, this bad blood is about to explode Friday night in Philly. The co-main event of the card pits WBA/IBF lightweight champion Katie Taylor against WBO titleholder Rose Volante in a lightweight title-unification fight.
Join Sporting News here, as we break down the action live, beginning at 8 p.m.
(All times Eastern.)
Main Card
- Main event: Tevin Farmer vs. Jono Carroll for Farmer’s IBF junior lightweight title
- Co-main event: Katie Taylor vs. Rose Volante for Taylor’s WBA/IBF lightweight titles and Volante’s WBO championship
- Gabe Rosado vs. Maciej Sulecki; Middleweights
- John Joe Nevin vs. Andres Figueroa; Lightweights
Undercard
- Luke Campbell vs. Adrian Young; Lightweights
- Raymond Ford vs. Weusi Johnson; Super featherweights
- Daniyar Yeleussinov vs. Silverio Ortiz; Welterweights
- Hank Lundy vs. Avery Sparrow; Lightweights
- D’Mitrius Ballard vs. Victor Fonseca; Super middleweights
Farmer vs. Carroll latest news
-If successful against Jono Carroll on Friday night, Tevin Farmer and his promoter Eddie Hearn plan on publicly calling Gervonta Davis out for a junior lightweight title-unification bout.
-Tevin Farmer gives his hot take on why the top junior lightweights aren’t fighting each other and what it will take to change that.
-Everything you need to know about how to watch and live-stream Farmer vs. Carroll.
-Tevin Farmer had to reinvent himself to become champion after suffering four losses professionally and even more personally.
-Throughout her boxing career, Katie Taylor has entered each bout the same way — with a pre-fight prayer read by her mom. Here, Taylor speaks about the pre-fight ritual and her fighting legacy with Sporting News.
-If Taylor defeats Rose Volante, she could face Delfine Persoon on the Anthony Joshua-Jarrell Miller card at Madison Square Garden on June 1 for the undisputed lightweight crown.
-There’s a clear path for Taylor to become undisputed lightweight champion of the world. Now, it’s just a matter of the Irish warrior getting it done.
