Opinions and Observations: A Phriday Night of Philly Phights

In the ninth round of a fight he was handily losing, Gabe Rosado suddenly turned the tables. Knocked down twice already in the bout and miles behind on the scorecards, Rosado landed a counter right hand that sent the heavily favored Maciej Sulecki to the canvas. Rosado knew this was his moment. As soon as Sulecki beat the count, Rosado pounced, battering him with every power punch in his arsenal. Again Sulecki dropped to the floor, and only the end of the round saved him from even more abuse. 

The Philadelphia crowd was on its feet. And they stayed that way all throughout the tenth and final round. Their hometown guy, Rosado, was attempting to pull off the type of comeback that epitomized the Philadelphia fighting spirit. Sure, you might be better, more talented, more highly regarded, but we're never going to stop fighting. 

Rosado kept firing away during the 10th. Sulecki was gassed and in survival mode, but Rosado just couldn't find the finishing blow. In the end, Sulecki won by a unanimous decision, which was the correct call. And although there were the obligatory boos when the scores were announced, there was no real controversy. 

The crowd celebrated Rosado's effort. And while Sulecki may move on to a title shot against Demetrius Andrade, Rosado had extracted his pound of flesh. Rosado had given Sulecki a true Philly fight, one that Sulecki won't soon forget, and one that he won't be in a rush to duplicate. 

Sulecki had almost every conceivable advantage over Rosado in the fight. He was quicker, fresher, bigger, more talented, his punches were straighter. However, Rosado isn't a stiff in the ring; he knows how to fight. Despite a limited amateur career, Rosado picked up all sorts of pugilistic wisdom in his countless Philly gym wars and facing top competition in his professional fights. As early as the second round, he noticed a flaw with Sulecki. Once Sulecki fired his right hand, he would freeze. Trainers call it "admiring your work" or "taking a picture." Instead of moving out of the pocket or continuing to throw shots, he stopped to assess the damage his shots were causing. In those brief moments, he was wide open for a counter right hand. 

Throughout the fight, Rosado was trying to focus on those openings. He had a good third round landing counter right hands, straight and overhand. And even though he was getting beaten to the punch during the fight, he knew what he needed to do to turn the bout in his favor. In the ninth, he seized the moment and almost had the biggest upset win of his career. Of course, "almost" could be the story of his career. 

Rosado has sometimes been derisively referred to as the "Gabekeeper," obviously a play on words with gatekeeper, a fighter who isn't good enough to win at the top level, but can challenge those a step down. Gatekeepers may be seen to some as a pejorative term in boxing, but fighters like Rosado play an important role in the sport. Rosado gives a professional effort every time out and can make for good fights. His record (24-12-1) belies the competitiveness of most of his matches. If there was a break or two that had gone his way (let's say the dubious stoppage against then-titleholder Peter Quillin or the decision against J'Leon Love), perhaps his career would have turned out differently. Nevertheless, he continues to provide good value in the ring. 

As for Sulecki, he remains a contender in the middleweight division. Perhaps he was overconfident and didn't respect Rosado's power or boxing acumen, but he and his team now have a perfect opportunity to correct a flaw moving forward. Sulecki gave Daniel Jacobs a tough fight last year and he will compete against Andrade, but to win these fights, he needs to tighten up his defensive approach. If Friday helps to correct some of his flaws in the ring, then consider Friday a crucial inflection point in his career. 

***

In Friday's main event, Tevin Farmer bested Jono Carroll's almost absurd punch activity (1,227 punches!) to win a unanimous decision. Although Farmer was the clear winner, Carroll made him work every second of the fight. The difference was the quality of Farmer's power punches and his 30 to 45-second flurries during many of the rounds where he looked like a truly elite fighter. Farmer was close to stopping Carroll in the 11th after he landed a series of right hooks, forcing the ever-aggressive Carroll to retreat to the ropes. By the end of the fight Carroll's faced was marked up and his right eye looked awful. Farmer was the deserved winner, but it was a difficult fight for him. 

Farmer's challenge on Friday was to win the fight without getting dragged into the type of war that Carroll wanted. Matching Carroll's punch volume would have played into Jono's hands. Farmer isn't a volume fighter; he picks his shots economically. According to CompuBox, Farmer threw 404 fewer punches than Carroll, an astounding number, over 30 punches a round! It's rare to see a fighter win when being out-thrown by such a significant margin, but the judges were correct in their assessment. Farmer's work was cleaner and more effective. 

Photo Courtesy of Ed Mullholland

Still, there were large stretches of rounds where Carroll was busy throwing shots (often missing) while Farmer refused to engage offensively. Farmer was fortunate that he had competent judges. Many judges will often score for the aggressor, even if the fighter wasn't particularly effective. 

Despite the win, Friday wasn't among Farmer's best performances as a pro. He had problems making weight and his legs didn't look great, especially in the early rounds. When he tried to fight on the outside, where his faster hands and feet should have given him advantages, he was surprisingly ineffective. His jab lacked snap and he couldn't get out of range consistently. 

Farmer won the bout on the inside. He has become an adept inside fighter over the years and he did a number of really clever things in the ring with angles and positioning in close quarters. Using his neck and upper body (and the stray elbow of forearm), he would move Carroll to areas where he could land and Carroll couldn't. Then, he would expertly switch sides with his head and work the other side of Carroll's body. These are subtle skills that aren't always apparent, but they are practiced and perfected by the best inside fighters. (I observed Farmer working on his head and neck positioning during a sparring session in camp.) 

Farmer will need to be better against the top junior lightweights. In the post-fight press conference, he graded himself a B-minus or a C-plus, and he had an interesting comment where he said that elite fighters are never satisfied with their performance. Much of this is true, but with Farmer, it's not just a matter of tweaking or fine tuning. He wasn't in top condition against Carroll. He also didn't seem fully focused in the ring. Perhaps he didn't look at Carroll as a serious opponent or maybe the three fights in five months caught up with him – it can almost feel like a perpetual training camp, and the body does need a rest. 

After his recent activity, I'm sure that Farmer could use a physical and mental break from boxing. The time off can help his body recuperate. Perhaps more importantly, he can use the break to refocus on his task at hand. Yes, Farmer's a champion and a very good fighter, but he's yet to beat a top opponent. And he can't afford to have an off night against the best; he just doesn't have the punching power to erase mistakes or cover over an inconsistent effort. To beat a Gervonta Davis he will have to be at his 100% best and despite his victory over Carroll, he wasn't near that level on Friday. 

***

Elsewhere on Friday's entertaining card, there was a grab bag of goodies. Katie Taylor demonstrated elite skills in stopping fellow champion Rose Volante in the ninth round. Taylor dropped Volante with a beautiful left hook in the first and inflicted damage throughout the fight. I will profess that I don't watch a ton of women's boxing, but Taylor looked fantastic. Her footwork is pristine. Her in-and-out style is difficult for an opponent to time. She goes to the body with menace, and she's no slapper. Her punches have some real bite. 

Photo Courtesy of Ed Mullholland

Taylor is a huge star in Ireland and there were throngs of Irish media surrounding her in the post-fight press conference. There's a special quality about Taylor in the ring. There's no need to grade on a curve. There's no "she's a good fighter...for a girl," or any of those backhanded compliments that often circulate regarding the best female fighters in the sport. No, she's excellent at what she does, and it's a pleasure to watch her fight.  

Luke Campbell looked terrific in dispatching Adrian Young in the fifth round. (Some publications have him as "Yung." Boxrec has him as "Young." We'll go with that.) Campbell has become an excellent fighter and has used losses in his career as an opportunity to improve. He does a wonderful pull-counter where he will make an opponent miss by inches and then come back with a hard straight left or right hook. He also digs to the body mercilessly.

Campbell should be in line to get another title opportunity within the next 12-18 months and I wouldn't count him out. Yes, he can be outworked and he's not a tremendous athlete, but he's a smart fighter, he knows what he wants to accomplish in the ring and he's technically sound. Plus, even though he's 31, he still seems to be getting better and better.

Daniyar Yeleussinov is one of Matchroom Sport's high-profile prospect signings. A two-time Olympian from Kazakhstan and a gold medalist in the 2016 games, Yeleussinov, 28, is supposed to be a fast-mover as a prospect. However, his fight with Silverio Ortiz on Friday demonstrated that he still has a way to go before challenging the top fighters at welterweight. 

Yeleussinov has great feet and good hand speed, but still has a number of amateur habits that are serious concerns. He often will throw shots at half-speed in the pocket, but then won't get out of the way or throw additional shots. He's a sitting duck to be countered. Overall, he doesn't fully commit to his power shots, which is not uncommon for developing fighters, but it's still an issue. 

Whether or not Yeleussinov makes these improvements has a lot to do with his temperament. Does he already view himself as a top talent or does he recognize the need to make these improvements? Does he have humility and a willingness to learn? There are a lot of raw materials for a trainer to work with regarding Yeleussinov; let's hope that the fighter knows that he doesn't yet have all the answers. 

Finally, the Philadelphia crowd was treated to a fun lightweight tussle between Hank Lundy and Avery Sparrow. A true crossroads fight, Lundy, 35, the former title contender, set out to prove that he is still a significant factor in the top levels of boxing, while Sparrow, just 25, wanted to make a statement that he is worthy of the type of opportunities that Lundy has received throughout his career. On Friday, youth prevailed. Sparrow scored two knockdowns in the second round and while Lundy came back in the second half of the fight, he had too big of a mountain to climb and lost via majority decision. 

Lundy-Sparrow was a spirited battle. The crowd appreciated the two hometown fighters giving it their all, which is what the expectations are for Philly boxers – not championships or titles or glamour or flash – but giving your best effort. Every. Damn. Time. 

And they delivered.  

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. 
Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com.
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Tevin Farmer: Finding the Peak

As junior lightweight champion Tevin Farmer (28-4-1, one no contest) prepares to make his third title defense on March 15th against Jono Carroll (16-0-1), it's business as usual at TKO Fitness in Cherry Hill, New Jersey (about 20 minutes east of Farmer's hometown of Philadelphia). It's early in training camp and while Farmer has stayed as active as any current champion in the sport – the Carroll fight will be his fourth in just over seven months – Farmer and head trainer Raul "Chino" Rivas look at every training camp as an opportunity for improvement. 

Today's menu features a sparring session between Farmer and three-time Tajikistani Olympian Anvar Yunusov, who is now based out of Philadelphia and has a 6-0 record as a professional. Yunusov, like Carroll, is a southpaw and this will be his fourth time sparring Farmer. Yunusov has also sparred notables such as Vasiliy Lomachenko and Jason Sosa (a Farmer stablemate). Farmer rolls in just after 12 p.m. and after exchanging a few pleasantries with the gang at the gym he sits down to get his hands wrapped.   

Farmer is now at an interesting place in his career. Until recently he was a virtually anonymous contender that no one seemed eager to face. Now he is a champion, but one who hasn't yet been in a high-profile fight. He certainly is known within the sport; however, he has yet to expand his popularity beyond hardcore boxing fans and his local supporters in the Philadelphia area. His headlining slot against Carroll at the Liacouras Center (the home of the Temple Owls basketball team) will hope to expand his popularity in the region further. The fight will be broadcasted in the U.S. by DAZN and in the U.K. by Sky. 

Since winning the title last year, Farmer has had to transition from the hunter to the hunted. Less accomplished fighters now call him out, whereas for years  Farmer sought the best at junior lightweight, but his challenges fell on deaf ears. Farmer still wants big fights, but he knows that he has to win for those to happen. He's had a years-long feud with fellow champion Gervonta Davis via social media that at times has been both entertaining and tedious. Farmer understands the current politics of boxing, but he also doesn't want to be bound by them. After years of waiting for his shot, he wants to build a legacy.

Photo Courtesy of DiBella Entertainment

At some point during Farmer's career he got mislabeled as a pure boxer, or a stick-and-mover. Although it's true that he lacks true knockout power (only six KOs in 34 bouts), and has a tricky southpaw style that relies on his superior footwork, he actually fights a lot in the pocket or at close range. Increasingly, Farmer has become an adept inside fighter, especially in impressive performances against Ivan Redkach and Billy Dib. Under Rivas's tutelage, Farmer has learned not only how to attack at close range, but also how to protect himself adeptly in tight. 

I asked Chino (everybody calls him as Chino) what has made Farmer successful at close range and his answer focused on Tevin's mindset. "I could tell each fighter the same thing," he said, "and it comes down to who has the ability to adapt. I go back to the IQ that he [Farmer] has. I have fighters that have been with me longer than Tevin and their inside game is nowhere near as good as Tevin’s.

"I give the same instructions. I use the same defense. And I give the same angles. Tevin was able to master it. Some people just adapt faster than others...I work on the mindset first because after that everything else can fall into place. If you can build a chemistry with your fighter, the rest is easy. My chemistry with Tevin is one-of-a-kind. It’s something special. It’s like we think together. It’s something special."

Rivas wasn't Farmer's first professional trainer, but once the two aligned with each other after some early setbacks in Tevin's career, Farmer has been undefeated (in full disclosure, Farmer did lose a disputed decision to Kenichi Ogawa in 2017 that was subsequently changed to a "no contest" after Ogawa failed a post-fight drug test). 

Farmer's professional career started unceremoniously with a 7-4-1 record, certainly not on the path to a title. Farmer told me in a past interview that after his loss to future titleholder Jose Pedraza in 2012, he decided to take boxing more seriously. It was at that point where he joined forces with Rivas. Their relationship went beyond teacher and pupil. Farmer actually lived with Rivas and his wife for almost two years. 

But even before Rivas was Farmer's official trainer, he had seen something in Tevin from when Farmer sparred some of his fighters. "There would be times when he would be sparring one of my guys," Rivas said, "where I was able to give direction, and he would just click. I was very impressed with how easily he was able to adapt to what I was telling him. He went from being a sparring partner for one of my guys to being someone who could get the best out of my fighters. 

"His defense was very impressive. It needed to be corrected, which is something that through the years has been corrected, but I loved his IQ and I loved his feet. I thought with that combination, once I taught him how to sit down with power shots, that he could be very entertaining."

Lou DiBella was also impressed with Farmer, even in the early stages of his career when Farmer was losing a number of his fights. DiBella had brought Farmer into face Pedraza on short notice. And although Farmer, who admittedly was out-of-shape, wound up losing the fight, he was winning the early rounds of that bout until his conditioning hit a wall. Based on that performance, DiBella developed an affinity for Farmer and would subsequently become his promoter.  

It took Farmer over five years to establish himself as a title contender after the Pedraza loss, but Rivas noted that Farmer's positive outlook was a big difference-maker. "We had that time to stay focused and hungry," he said. "Honestly, it’s been very easy for me to be able to keep him focused. He’s so strong-minded, which is a plus for me. He makes it much easier for me. And I thank the Lord every day for that."

***

During today's spirited sparring session, Farmer and Rivas focus on the right hand. Working with a lot of jabs to the body and double right hooks to the body and head, Farmer treats sparring as a day's work, not a point of machismo pride. Yunusov certainly has his moments throughout the six rounds and it's clear with his punch accuracy and hard, straight shots that he could have a bright future in the sport. 

Much of the sparring takes place in close quarters, where Farmer, with Rivas's exclamations from the corner, works on creating angles to land his shots. Farmer does an excellent job of using his body and Yunusov's positioning to get quality work done in the trenches. It isn't always aesthetically pleasing to watch, but it's effective. After the sparring concludes, Farmer and Rivas go to the speed bag to work on timing exercises. 

Farmer's next opponent, Carroll, is a rugged fighter who likes to throw a lot of shots. Although Rivas wouldn't divulge his particular fight strategy for Carroll, certainly physicality and grappling are techniques that can reduce a foe's punch volume. 

Before Farmer leaves for the day, I talk with him for a few minutes about his career and what headlining in Philadelphia means to him. Farmer has fought in and around Philly almost a dozen times, but this is his most significant opportunity in the famous fight town. 

“To box in Philadelphia is always great," he said, "because some of the best boxers come from Philadelphia. I’ve headlined in Philly before, but to headline on the big stage, it’s definitely special. This fight means a lot to me. I’ve been working the last eight, nine years to become recognized and known as one of the best in the sport.”

In truth, neither Farmer nor Rivas seem overly concerned with what Carroll brings to the table. Rivas acknowledges Carroll's high-volume attack, but it's a style he believes that Farmer has faced a number of times in his career. What Rivas is most interested in is ensuring that Tevin can reach his full potential as a fighter; there are always areas to improve.

Farmer has appreciated his recent fight activity and believes it has helped him fine-tune his skills. “I'm working on just getting better little by little," he said. "Just taking it one day at a time. At a certain point in your career, you don’t see big improvements. Everything is little improvements now."

Despite numerous junctures where he could have lost hope, Farmer continued to work on becoming a better fighter. Even after getting shot in 2017, he refused to let that episode derail his grand plans. (A bullet went clear through his right hand. He acknowledges that he doesn't know if his hand will ever be 100%, but he's also not letting it be an excuse. With his customary positive outlook, he said, "[The hand] hasn't let me down yet.")

For Farmer and Rivas, March 15th is about continuing to progress toward Tevin's peak. There are still areas to master, from sitting down on his lead left hand to better angles to more consistency with his power shots. Bigger fights may be on the horizon, but they need Tevin to be at his absolute best, and they believe that while they are close, their work is not yet done. And perhaps it never will be. Farmer and Rivas are certainly confident, but no one could accuse them of being self-satisfied. They know that real challenges lie ahead. 

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. He's a member of Ring Magazine's Ring Ratings Panel and a Board Member for the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. 
Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com.
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