Cancun War: Zepeda Vs. Farmer II

WBC interim lightweight champion William Zepeda says he will use what he learned from his previous fight against Tevin Farmer in their rematch this Saturday, March 29th, in Cancun, Mexico.

Farmer’s Adjustments

Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) stuck to his original game plan a little too long, and highly skilled Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) took advantage of it by adapting to land a lot of hard, head-snapping shots that won him rounds and made the fight close.

Zepeda won the fight by a 10-round split decision, but it was a hallow victory because his stock dropped due to his struggle to defeat the 34-year-old former IBF super featherweight champion Farmer.

It was supposed to have been an easy victory for the highly ranked Mexican contender, Zepeda, to set him up for a world title shot against WBC 135-lb champion Shakur Stevenson. However, due to William’s problems against the veteran Farmer, he’s running it back to show that he can improve. If Zepeda solves Farmer’s style, he might as well forget about fighting Shakur because he’s on another level skill-wise.

FACE OFF between William Zepeda and Tevin Farmer after their final remarks at the Final Press Conference!#ZepedaFarmer2 | #TheREMATCH LIVE on DAZN@DAZNboxing @RiyahdSeason pic.twitter.com/IU7MWNUuWF

— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) March 27, 2025

Zepeda: Learning Curve

“I was expecting an opponent who was defensive, slippery, and with a lot of tricks,” said Willam Zepeda on X, talking about his previous fight against Tevin Farmer on November 16th last year in Riyadh. “The only thing that was true was that he took a lot of punches.

“The truth is that, the work I did on his body, he put up with it, but for this occasion, I’m very focused on our training plan,” said Zepeda.

William’s strategy to attack Farmer’s body didn’t work for the 10-rounder last time in Riyadh. Whether that was due to the contest being only ten rounds rather than twelve, it’s unclear. Farmer handled the body shots well, and took advantage of Zepeda leaving his head open by frequently nailing him with shots. That’s how Tevin dropped him in the fourth.

In the rematch, Zepeda may focus on throwing to Farmer’s head to hurt him the way Raymond Muratalla did in their fight last year on July 13th. He had Farmer looking close to being knocked out in rounds eight through ten. The referee penalized Tevin a point in the eighth because he was trying to clinch his way out of danger.

“This is going to be one of the most special cards for Cancun and for Mexico. Not only because we have a great champion in William Zepeda, but also because Tevin Farmer, who is a real world champion and who is here to fight and here to win,” said promoter Oscar De La Hoya during today’s final press conference for Saturday’s rematch between WBC interim lightweight champion William Zepeda and Tevin Farmer in Cancun, Mexico.

“So, this is a rematch that is taking place and is much-anticipated. We feel this card in Cancun is going to be one of the best ones we put on in many years.”