Tevin Farmer dominates Francisco Fonseca, retains junior lightweight title

NEW YORK -- Junior lightweight world titleholder Tevin Farmer said before making his second title defense that he wanted to steal the show from the Canelo Alvarez-Rocky Fielding main event and predicted he would knock out challenger Francisco Fonseca inside four rounds on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Although Farmer did not steal the show with an impressive knockout, he retained his 130-pound world title with ease, cruising to a one-sided decision, 117-111 on all three scorecards. ESPN.com had it 119-109 for Farmer.

"It was a good performance," Farmer said. "He was really, really tough. And after a few rounds, we saw that and we started working on things. It's all a road to improve. I say it was a C+, B- performance."

Farmer (28-4-1, 6 KOs), 28, a southpaw, won the title in Australia in August and was in his third world title bout in 4½ months -- an unusually active schedule for a top-level fighter -- so he was sharp.

The quick-handed Farmer attacked the taller Fonseca's body and threw combinations on the inside throughout the fight. He also landed several uppercuts and caught Fonseca with many clean punches over his low guard. Fonseca's bruised face showed the impact of those shots.

Fonseca (22-2-1, 16 KOs), 24, of Costa Rica, caught Farmer with some shots also, but few were clean, as Farmer rolled with many of them. Fonseca also rarely threw combinations.

In the 11th round, Farmer appeared to stun Fonseca multiple times with head shots.

"I felt like every round I was seconds away from getting the KO," said Fonseca, whose three-fight winning streak ended. "He's an awkward fighter, and I had trouble adjusting. Overall, I'm happy with what I did in there."

Both of Fonseca's losses have come in world title fights. In August 2017, he suffered an eighth-round loss to Gervonta Davis on the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor undercard in a fight only Fonseca was eligible to win the belt because Davis had been stripped for being overweight.

Farmer will be back in action in a hometown defense in Philadelphia in March. He had been calling out Davis -- who won another title after being stripped -- for a unification fight but cannot get any traction.

"Who wants to fight me? That's the question," Farmer said. "Is [Davis] the fight that I want? We've moved past him. Does he want to fight me? Like I said, we active, we getting paid. It's time for him to fight and stay active and then he can come see me."

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