TEVIN FARMER BATTLES BILLY DIB FOR THE IBF JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT WORLD TITLE THIS FRIDAY

*New York, NY* (August 1, 2018) Tevin “The American Idol” Farmer (25-4-1,
5 KOs), of Philadelphia, PA, has the opportunity to realize his dream of
becoming a world champion this Friday, August 3, when he faces off against
Australian Billy Dib (43-3, 24 KOs), for the vacant IBF Junior Lightweight
World Title, at Technology Park, in Eveleigh, a suburb of Sydney,
Australia. The world title fight will be streamed live on ESPN+ with the
telecast starting at 6:15am ET. The Farmer-Dib main event is expected to
begin no earlier than 7:30am ET.

“I had the best training camp of my career. I can’t wait for Friday and to
become a world champion,” said Farmer. “I know everything happens for a
reason in life and everything I’ve gone through has brought me to Sydney to
win the IBF Junior Lightweight World Title.”

What Farmer has gone through includes working hard to rebuild his career
following a dubious start, recovering from a gunshot wound to his hand, and
coming out on the wrong end of a controversial decision in a world title
opportunity last year.

In his first 20 months as a pro, Farmer’s record read 7-4-1. However, he
rededicated himself, signed with DiBella Entertainment, and incredibly put
together 18 consecutive victories over the next five years. While on his
rise up the world rankings, Farmer caught the eye of one of boxing’s best
pound-for-pound fighters, Andre Ward, who told FightHype.com, “That young
boy from Philly, Tevin Farmer, they sleeping on him. You better watch out
for Tevin. He can do it all.”

This past July 29th marked the one-year anniversary of Farmer getting shot
in the right hand while trying to intervene during a neighborhood domestic
dispute. Just four months after that incident, Farmer outboxed Japan’s
Kenichi Ogawa in an IBF world title bid, on December 9, in Las Vegas, only
to be denied the belt when three judges disagreed with what most ringside
observers and boxing pundits felt should have been a clear victory for the
Philadelphian. The decision was later changed to a No Contest and the IBF
130-pound title declared vacant after it was discovered that Ogawa tested
positive for two forms of androstanediol (synthetic testosterone) in a
urine test.

A victory on Friday will add Farmer, a great, great nephew of Joe Gans, to
the illustrious list of world champions from the City of Philadelphia that
includes Tommy Loughran, Joey Giardello, Joe Frazier and, more recently,
Bernard Hopkins and Danny Garcia.

“I’m thrilled for Tevin that he gets to right a wrong in this fight with
Billy Dib,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “I
respect Billy Dib, who’s been a friend for years. I know he’ll be bringing
his A-game, but I know that Tevin is ready. When I signed Tevin almost four
years ago, I promised to give him an opportunity to fight for a world title
and in his last fight, he should have been crowned a champion. I look
forward to watching Tevin fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a world
champion this Friday.”