William Zepeda vs Tevin Farmer Predictions: Shakur Stevenson is the next step for the winner

Perennial WBC mandatory William Zepeda fights for a version of the crown on Saturday, November 16 against Tevin Farmer. The WBC interim belt will be on the line at The Venue in Riyadh, on the undercard of Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez vs Chris Billam-Smith. DAZN will show the event live on their platform.

Here are my Zepeda vs Farmer predictions ahead of this high-stakes fight.

Zepeda is finally fighting for a “world” title. A portion of a portion of the crown. The unbeaten star has been the WBC mandatory challenger for what feels like forever, but a fight with genuine kingpin Shakur Stevenson is yet to materialise. In theory, the winner of this bout should be guaranteed a crack at the Texan. In practice, who knows?

Zepeda is similar in profile to undercard compadre Arnold Barboza Jr. Each man has a lofty ranking and an unbeaten record, but with a lingering sense that they are forgoing the biggest fights. In Zepeda’s case, he has some eye-catching wins but nothing that makes his case as one of the best 135lb fighters on the planet.

‘Camaron’ has outpointed the faded Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz, beaten up Britain’s brave Maxi Hughes and bodied Giovanni Cabrera. But there is no definitive win on his resume, no one victory you can point to as a king-making moment. Perhaps Saturday will prove to be that for Zepeda?

Farmer is a former world champion but he is coming off a loss to Raymond Muratalla. There was appetite for the latter to face Zepeda, and criticism followed when the loser of that fight was picked for this assignment instead.

Farmer’s IBF super featherweight world title win came in 2018 and he lost it in 2020 to the aforementioned Diaz. Since then, the stylish southpaw has beaten three opponents of little renown before the Muratalla defeat.

Farmer performed well against the heavily-favoured Muratalla in his unanimous decision defeat. It was a close fight, albeit with the correct result. The 10-rounder showed than Farmer still has enough juice to compete against big names. What is yet to be proved is whether ‘2X’ can still beat world-ranked contenders.

Zepeda’s power is usually central to the discussion in any fight he has. It has been two years since anyone took the Mexican the full distance. But it has been over a decade since Farmer has been stopped. 

That loss, to future world champion Jose Pedraza, came at a time when Farmer openly admitted he did not take the sport seriously. Now renowned as a defensive master, Zepeda has his work cut out if he wants to finish ‘2X’.

Zepeda vs Farmer Betting Odds

Zepeda is a whopping 1/20 favourite to win this fight. Farmer is 8/1 to pull off the upset. You can back the draw at 20/1. 

Zepeda vs Farmer Full Card

Gilberto Ramirez vs. Chris Billam-Smith

Jose Carlos Ramirez vs. Arnold Barbosa Jr

Oscar Collazo vs. Thammanoon Niyomtrong

Wiliam Zepeda Segura vs. Tevin Farmer

Oscar Duarte Jurado vs. Botirzhon Akhmedov

Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Juan Garcia

Zepeda vs Farmer Predictions

This feels like a straightforward task for Zepeda. Farmer is gifted but fading, while his 28-year-old opponent should be reaching his peak. ‘2X’ will have a torrid time trying to keep his big-punching foe off him for 12 rounds.

My pick is Zepeda to get this one done by knockout at 4/11.

You can find all our latest boxing betting tips and analysis at our Betfred Insights Boxing page and our latest boxing odds here.