MIAMI—Granted a clean bill of health, Tevin Farmer is now in position to enjoy a fresh start through old business.

A 23-fight win streak and 17-month junior lightweight title reign came to an end for the Philadelphia-bred southpaw, who dropped a 12-round decision to Joseph ‘Jo Jo’ Diaz on a January 30 DAZN show which aired live from Meridian at Island Gardens in Miami, Florida. The tail end of Farmer’s time spent in South Beach was spent under medical observation, largely as a precautionary measure but also out of expressed concern as there were concerns—at least from ringside—of dehydration and potential neurological issues.

“Tevin Farmer was released from Jackson Memorial Hospital after undergoing a precautionary CAT scan, the results of which were normal,” Lou DiBella, Farmer’s Hall of Fame-elected lead promoter revealed on Friday.

From there comes the next order of business, which is squarely focused on returning to the title stage.

Diaz (31-1, 15KOs) was a clear winner in their 130-pound title fight, to the point of most observers left surprised by the relatively close scores of 115-113 (twice) and 116-112. The feat saw the 27-year old southpaw from South El Monte, California overcome a gruesome cut in round two to ultimately land as the sixth member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic boxing team claim a major title, joining current titlists Jamel Herring, Jose Ramirez, Claressa Shields and Errol Spence as well as former bantamweight title claimant Rau’Shee Warren.

It also left Farmer (30-5-1, 6KOs) with his first career defeat in more than seven years, having rattled off 23 straight wins following an October 2012 stoppage loss to then-unbeaten prospect Jose Pedraza, who went on to become a two-division titlist. The next step for Farmer, is to become a two-time 130-pound title claimant.  

“We definitely gonna (exercise) that immediate rematch clause,” vowed Farmer to DAZN’s Chris Mannix during his excuse-free post-fight interview, not even offering an injured hand as an alibi. “Hopefully we can do it again in April or May. We gotta run it back but he put up a hell of fight.”

If all goes as planned, Farmer can look forward to his seventh consecutive title fight. The run began with his August 2018 win over Billy Dib to claim the vacant title on the road in Australia. All four successful title defenses along with his loss to Diaz came under the banner of Matchroom Boxing USA, the lead promoter for Thursday’s show and with whom DiBella entered a co-promotional agreement for the same of advancing his fighter’s career.

It seems that relationship will extend at least one more fight.

“We are already working on those plans,” Eddie Hearn, managing director of Matchroom Boxing confirmed to krikya360.com. “I thought Jo Jo Diaz boxed really well. One of the worst cuts I’ve ever seen. Can’t BELIEVE the fight wasn’t stopped then, but he composed himself really well. Tevin didn’t seem to box his best, hurt his hand in the 1st round. Some people are saying tired at the weight but, you know, I thought Jo Jo Diaz boxed really well and deserved the win.

“So now, we’ll look to do the rematch, probably in May or something like that.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox