Tevin Farmer is relishing the prospect of fighting William Zepeda in the “wolf’s den” of Cancun, Mexico. 

The 34 year old and Zepeda will on Saturday contest the same WBC interim lightweight title held by Zepeda following the split decision awarded to the Mexican when they fought in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in November.

Zepeda had been considered on course for a fight with Shakur Stevenson, but the admirable performance produced by Farmer, against a heavy-handed opponent who had been widely expected to win, demanded an immediate rematch, and Farmer’s task has perhaps been made harder by him having to fight Zepeda in Zepeda’s territory.

Farmer, regardless, cited his victory over Billy Dib in Eveleigh, Australia for the IBF junior-lightweight title held by the Australian in 2018 as a demonstration of his ability to win in such circumstances. He, regardless, may yet encounter a younger, fresher opponent who on Saturday is better prepared.

“Everybody must have forget how I won my world title,” said Farmer at the final press conference to promote their fight. “I went to the wolf’s den. I went to Australia and defeated Billy Dib to get my world title. I’m used to this. 

“My whole career, I’ve been the underdog. I never had a big promoter behind me; I had to get it the hard way. Growing up in Philly is the wolf den itself – and I was the wolf.”

“This is very exciting for me,” said Zepeda. “I’ve finally found somebody who will go toe to toe with me. I really had to look at chances and opportunities, and I’m now really excited to be able to show not only the same explosive ‘Camaron’ Zepeda, but someone that’s willing to work hard to take the win on March 29. I want to make sure I take the win that evening. 

“It was a very tough test. It was 10 rounds of war, and I learned that I need to step up and it’s a lesson for me and a lesson for everybody that we’re not supposed to just let things go. I took that lesson, and I’m going to implement it on Saturday.”

The first fight between them took place on the undercard of the cruiserweight unification title fight between Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and Chris Billam-Smith, and Golden Boy Promotions’ Oscar De La Hoya, not only the promoter of Zepeda but of Saturday’s contest, said: “It was a special night, because this fight stole the show. It was a fight that was back and forth. It was a fight that was, going, teeter-totter. Evenly matched. 

“The skill sets that every fighter showed was incredible. We had to do the rematch. There’s no way around it. If you want to be the best, you gotta fight the best, and I truly feel that the winner on Saturday night will move on to bigger and better things. The fact that Farmer put on a tremendous, tremendous show, and William puts on a tremendous show every single time, we just had to come back here to Cancun and make it happen once again. 

“I’m very proud – Farmer’s one of those throwback fighters that’s always in the gym. Always training; always ready. William reminds me of [Mexican great] Salvador Sanchez – a fighter who throws a lot of punches. Has beautiful skill; comes forward; has a lot of heart. A lot of desire. We have one of those fights of the year candidates here in Cancun on Saturday night.”