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Farmer's market: American seeks to upset apple cart in Zepeda rematch as Stevenson looms
There's a low thrum ringside as William Zepeda dances across the canvas at the start of the fourth round in Riyadh. Across from him, Tevin Farmer keeps his gloves close.
Talk has sustained all week over what will be next for the unbeaten Mexican, one of the lightweight division's most celebrated stars, a knockout machine primed for the big time.
A bout with Shakur Stevenson seems the natural fit. Victory here would earn him the WBC interim crown, and place him in pole position to challenge for the former's title proper.
Then, it happens. Zepeda miscalculates for a second. He leans back, then roars forward with the right, aimed with brutal ferocity at the lower half of Farmer's jawline.
The American drags his head to the side with pinpoint timing and precision. He shifts his wait, rears around and brings a swinging left hook straight into the Mexican's face.
Zepeda goes down, dropped to the canvas. Both gloves and his left knee hit the ground. The thrum that has bubbled for three rounds so far suddenly turns into a roar.
It is a moment that perhaps remains the defining image of this fight, four months on - and it is the beacon to which Farmer will return again, and again, as he seeks justice.
At the final bell in Saudi Arabia, it was the American whose hand stays at his side as the scorecards are read out, with a split-decision call ensuring Zepeda's record remains intact.
Yet while he may have been handed a second loss of 2024, Farmer arguably walks out of the ring with his stock held higher than when he entered, his reputation burnished.
Before the fight, few outside of his camp had given the 34-year-old a serious shot at the upset. The fact he came within one judgement call alone is a feat against the odds.
Conversely, Zepeda's hopes of a straight shot at Stevenson were suddenly in flux. Victory had earned him his shot but he had failed to live up to the hype that surrounded him too.
The champion certainly thought so. In the immediate aftermath, Stevenson took to social media to call the Mexican "food", before further disparaging his skills in the ring.
Trash talk is part of the game. For as long as fighters have sought to share the ring, may have played down the prospects of potential foes. It is a battle of mind as well as matter.
Yet Stevenson's words highlighted the uncomfortable truth. Could Zepeda, despite his record and despite his knockouts, hope to seriously prove his mettle here, after this?
Perhaps not. It had seemed unlikely before that Farmer would get his rematch in defeat. But suddenly, the former IBF super featherweight champion is not only wanted but needed.
Stevenson took a bout with Floyd Schofield - later Josh Padley, after the former pulled out - in February, and eased himself to a ninth-round stoppage to further his own record.
But for Zepeda to stand on the same level, the Mexican has decided he must mend his reputation as a high-attrition fighter in clinical fashion, against the man who nearly took it all.
Farmer will be up against it again. This time, instead of a neutral crowd in the Middle East, he heads into his opponent's back yard, to the famed destination city of Cancun.
From the moment he touches down a country away, nearly everyone will be against him, wishing on a home favourite who must win this rematch to restore his high-lustre shine.
But while Zepeda has everything to lose, Farmer has everything to gain. As he closes in on the heart of his mid-thirties, many had written him off as a going concern last summer.
Now, he stands on the edge of something famous. Lose here, and there will be no shame. Lose by a close call on the cards though, and he will have put another spanner in the works.
And if he wins? Well, a shot at two-weight title glory would await him - and with it, one of the most fascinating fight stories of 2025 that could be set to unfold too.
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