by David P. Greisman

Anyone who was still taking Tevin Farmer lightly because of his record shouldn’t be taking him lightly anymore.

That’s not necessarily because of who Farmer beat this past Saturday on the preliminary undercard of Leo Santa Cruz vs. Shawn Porter. It was more how Farmer beat Ivan Redkach at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Farmer clowned Redkach, moving away from his shots and dodging punches in the pocket, making Redkach miss by miles, then landing fast combinations of his own. Farmer won a wide unanimous decision, 99-89 on one scorecard and 98-90 on the other two. One point was deducted from each for fouls, so Farmer otherwise had a shutout on one card and lost just one round on the other two cards.

“That kid was 7-4-1. And now he’s 22-4-1,” said Lou DiBella, who promotes Farmer. “He’s also beaten fighters with a combined record in that streak of wins that’s sort of remarkable. That kid is almost like a little ‘Rocky’ story. I’m proud to promote him. he’s a tough little bastard. And he dominated Redkach tonight.”

Redkach fell to 19-2-1 with 15 KOs. He was taken out in four rounds by Dejan Zlaticanin in June 2015. Zlaticanin went on to win a world title. The draw came in Redkach’s preceding fight to this one, against Luis Cruz in April.

Farmer-Redkach had taken place at lightweight, but Farmer said afterward that he wanted to return to the 130-pound division and vie for a title shot there.

“I think he’s going to get an opportunity. He’s still got those four losses. It’s going to be an excuse for some guys to avoid him,” DiBella said. “I can name right now six or seven prospects promoted by major companies with undefeated records, and Tevin would toy with them. I think he should be very proud of what he’s accomplished in the last couple of years. I think he’s heading in the right direction. Tonight, in Barclays Center, on a televised fight, the crowd was chanting Tevin Farmer’s name. That’s pretty cool.”

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at or internationally at . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com