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Australia’s Billy Dib gets the chance to fight for a world title on home soil when he takes on America’s Tevin Farmer for the IBF super featherweight world title in Redfern. Join The Roar from 9pm (AEST) for live fight coverage and debate in our blog.
The 32-year-old Dib is a former featherweight world champion, winning the IBF belt at Homebush in 2011 with a unanimous decision over Mexican Jorge Lacierva.
He went on to defend his title twice before losing it to Russian Evgeny Gradovich in a split decision in 2013. Gradovich beat him again in in a rematch later that year via a ninth round TKO.
Since then, Dib has had seven wins from eight fights, with his only loss being a third round KO against Japan’s Takashi Miura for the WBC super featherweight world title in 2015.
Dib has a solid career KO win record at 56 per cent, and he’s been knocked out himself twice.
His opponent Tevin Farmer is a 28-year-old southpaw who has had an unusual rise through the ranks. The four losses in his career came in his first twelve fights, normally the sign of a fighter going nowhere. But since then, he’s compiled eighteen straight wins.
There was controversy in Farmer’s last bout though, which was a shot at the vacant IBF title that he and Dib are fighting for tonight. Farmer fought Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa (22-1) in Las Vegas in December last year. He lost via split decision on the judge’s scorecards, but the result was later overturned to a ‘no contest’ after Ogawa tested positive for steroids. The belt remained vacant.
Farmer tends to win his fights by decision, with just 20% of his victories coming via KO. He was knocked out himself twice earlier in his career.
This is a tough fight to call. Dib’s more extensive big-fight experience and home city advantage probably gives him the edge going in to the bout. Farmer has only fought over 12 rounds once in his career and Dib won’t get a better opportunity to regain a world title.
Prediction
Dib in a close points decision.
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