Boxing Is Making A Comeback in Philadelphia
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Over the next three weekends, Philadelphia is going to be hosting some of the best boxers in the world, beginning Friday night, when IBF super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer (28-4-1, 6 knockouts) defends his title against unbeaten, bearded southpaw Dubliner Jono Carroll (16-0-1, 3 KOs), being shown nationally on the DAZN in the U.S. and on Sky Sports in Britain, from Temple University's Liacouras Center.
Two weeks from now, on Saturday, March 30, WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (16-0, 13 KOs) will defend his title against Doudou Ngumbu (38-8, 14 KOs) from the 2300 Arena, which also going to be on national TV.
For Farmer, this is a great opportunity.
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Farmer, from North Philadelphia, gets to fight at home.
"This is big for me, fighting as a world champion in Philly," Farmer said. "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 (promoters) Eddie (Hearn), Lou (DiBella) 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. Jono is trying to get under my skin but it's impossible to get under my skin. He's making himself look bad and he's. 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."
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Overall, this is one of the biggest boxing weekends of the year.
Tonight is Farmer-Carroll in Philadelphia, followed by the huge welterweight showdown between Errol Spence Jr. and Mikey Garcia on Saturday night from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys, and then Irish Olympian Michael Conlan will conclude the weekend with a St. Patrick's Day fight at Madison Square Garden.