Zepeda Edges A Decision Against Farmer

Originally posted on BoxingNews.com | Last updated Mar 30, 2025 3:59 AM ET

William Zepeda beat Tevin Farmer for the second time to retain his WBC Interim Lightweight Title.

The fight was another close encounter, as Zepeda edged out a majority decision: 114-114, 116-112, and 115-113. Farmer showed a lot of heart to overcome a possible injury to last the distance, but it was Zepeda’s night as he moved closer to facing the full champion, Shakur Stevenson. Zepeda found success early on, hurting Farmer with his power shots. Things got from bad to worse as Farmer appeared to suffer an injury in round two.

There were suggestions Farmer may have injured his elbow. Farmer did not let that sway him from the fight. He landed big counters in the fourth while also surviving a massive onslaught from Zepeda, who backed him on the ropes in the fifth. Farmer was lucky that the referee did not stop the fight. Farmer threw some uppercuts to ward the referee off.

However, Farmer was only using his right hand, suggesting that he did suffer an injury. But his best round came soon after. Farmer landed his uppercut to give Zepeda something to think about in the sixth. Farmer hung on in the fight, but his heart was enough to win the bout. The CompuBox numbers showed that Zepeda was the better fighter. Zepeda landed 344 punches compared to Farmer’s 152. Zepeda also connected with 101 body shots to Farmer’s 42. To round things off, Zepeda had more power shots: 242 compared to Farmer’s 111.

Post-Fight

“It was a great challenge. I didn’t take this fight because I beat him [the first fight], I took this fight because it was a test, and I knew he was difficult the first time — he was even more difficult this time, and I thank him for giving me the opportunity. And I’m very grateful we had 22 rounds,” Zepeda

“Nothing against Zepeda. He’s a fighter, he comes in there, he doesn’t make the scorecards, so I have nothing against him. Like I told him, he’s a hell of a fighter — probably one of the toughest in the division because of his output. If you can’t keep up with his output or you can’t hurt him back, he will crush you.

“I have respect for the fighter, I have no respect for boxing. … I dominated all the last rounds. … The first seven was a little rocky. … I can’t keep going into camp and not getting the decision and getting robbed. The last fight was closer than this fight,” Farmer