IRISH FIGHTER JONO Carroll will face Tevin Farmer for the IBF World Super-Featherweight title at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia on Friday 15 March, it has tonight been confirmed.
Farmer (28-4-1 6KOs) defends his crown for the third time, having last beaten Francisco Fonseca in New York in December.
He also overcame Irishman James Tennyson in his first defence in Boston last October.
Unbeaten Dubliner Carroll (16-0-1 3KOs) competes for the world title for the first time on St Patrick’s weekend, having drawn with Guillaume Frenois in Sheffield back in December.
The two fighters will come face to face for the first time in a press conference on Tuesday to launch the fight.
“He’s got a World title shot on St Patrick’s weekend, he should be thanking me,” said Farmer. “He’s trying to get under my skin but it’s impossible to get under my skin. He’s making himself look bad and he’s stepping up to a whole different level with me. I’m A-level and he’s going to pay.
He says we both come from tough backgrounds, the hood, that boy hasn’t come from any struggle, no hood. I’m going to show him when he comes to Philly, he’s going to eat his words. He’s trying to get his buzz up but there’s certain things that you don’t say. He’s made this personal and you don’t want to get personal with a Philly guy like me.
“This is big for me, fighting as a World champion in Philly. When does Philly hold big World championship shows? This is big – it’s a boxing town but this is as big a show as there’s been here for a long time. I have to thank Eddie, Lou and DAZN for making this a reality, because often World champions don’t always get the chance to fight in their home city. It doesn’t happen, but it’s happening for me and that shows the level of respect that Eddie, Lou and I have for each other. It’s going to be a great night.
“I don’t care about these other champions. You never know what is going to happen with politics and people making excuses, but I’m here, I defended the title twice in three months last year and I’m headlining at home. If people really want to fight, it’s simple to do – sign the contract and turn up and fight.
“The only thing I care about is my career, keep lining them up and I’m going to keep smoking them and keep getting paid. With or without them, my career will be the best of all those guys. I’m on a high right now. Everything is good right now, I’m doing everything I’ve dreamed of.”
“I’ll do what I want with Tevin, he’s a tiny little child and I’m not afraid of him,” added Carroll. “When we meet, if he’s respectful of me, I’ll be respectful back as that’s how I’ve been brought up – but if comes talking rubbish then I’ll put him in his place.
I see a fakeness in him when I see him interviewed, I see a fake person. My thoughts on him are that he wants to be liked, but he’s not. I reckon he’s arrogant, that’s the man I think he is and I know he’s that sort of flashy person saying stupid things on Twitter.
“Tevin is a man that wants to be liked but he plays like he’s Floyd Mayweather, but he’s not half as good as him. He has serious holes in his armory, and I am going to poke every single one of them, I’ll break him up and stop him.
“He’s never met a man like me in his life. He came from a rough background yes, but so did I. We’re both from crazy places but we’re in the limelight now, so we have to be grown-up and responsible as we’re going to have cameras around us.”
The card will also see Katie Taylor face Brazil’s Rose Volante in a world-title unification clash — a bout that was confirmed earlier this month — and will feature Taylor’s former Irish team-mate and fellow Olympic medalist John Joe Nevin.
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
