By Allan Fox: #1 IBF middleweight contender Tureano Johnson (20-1, 14 KOs) will be meeting #2 IBF Sergiy Derevyanchenko (10-0, 8 KOs) in title eliminator this month on August 25 on Premier Boxing champions on FS1 at the Buffalo Run Casino, in Miami, Oklahoma.
As the boxing world prepares to witness the epic WBC Super Featherweight clash between Mexican warriors Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs) and Miguel “El Alacran” Berchelt (30-1, 27 KOs), Golden Boy Promotions has announced a stacked undercard of fan favorite all-stars coming back in to action on Saturday, January 28 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino and live streamed by Ring TV.
By Dan Ambrose: It looks like IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin won’t be fighting his IBF mandatory challenger Tureano Johnson (19-1, 13 KOs) in April.
The 31-year-old Johnson has a shoulder injury that will require surgery, according to Dan Rafael. This leaves Golovkin with no opponent for his April fight on HBO. WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez also doesn’t have a pay-per-view worthy opponent yet for his next fight on May 7.
By Dan Ambrose: Gennady Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler of K2n Promotions is looking to potentially setup a fight between Golovkin and his #1 IBF mandatory challenger Tureano Johnson (19-1, 13 KOs) for April 23rd at Madison Square Garden in New York, if they fail to get a unification fight against WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) next.
That’s the fight that Golovkin and Loeffler want most of all right now for their next bout, but it’s doubtful that they’ll be able to get the fight. Loeffler made an offer to Saunders for a unification match, and they’re waiting to fight out if Saunders and his promoter Frank Warren will agree to the offer.
By Paul GM Lam: While nothing is ever certain in boxing, it now appears to be the case that a mouth-watering middleweight unification clash between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin will not take place until the fall next year, leaving space for a tune-up bout for each. Enter Tureano Johnson, 19-1 with 13 KOs, the mandatory challenger for Golovkin’s IBF belt and one of the names that has been mentioned as a possibility for the Kazakh KO artist’s tune-up opponent.
Johnson, a 2008 Bahamian Olympian, is largely unknown to the general public, but a darling of hardcore followers of the sweet science who appreciate his exciting fighting style, accessibility to fans and down-to-earth, ‘keep it real’ attitude. He’s perhaps best-known for a controversial stoppage loss to former Golovkin opponent Curtis Stevens, a fight he had been winning until getting badly rocked in the final round.
By Dan Ambrose: #4 IBF Tureano Johnson (19-1, 13 KOs) defeated #3 IBF Eamonn O’Kane (14-2-1, 5 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night at Madison Square Garden to become IBF middleweight mandatory challenger to new IBF 160lb champion Gennady Golovkin. Johnson, a 2008 Olympian, says he’s ready to face Golovkin as soon as possible for his mandatory title shot.
Johnson says if Golovkin wants to face the winner of the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Miguel Cotto for his next fight, then he’ll speak to his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions if Golovkin and his promoters at K2 Promotions want him to step aside so that Golovkin can face the winner of the Cotto-Canelo fight next.
(Photo credit: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment) By Scott Gilfoid: No.9 WBA heavyweight contender Antonio Tarver (31-6-1, 22 KOs) came up empty last Friday night in fighting to a 12 round draw against 39-year-old Steve “USS” Cunningham (28-7-1, 13 KOs) in their fight on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike TV from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Tarver, 46, came into the fight needing a big win to get him pushed up closer to the top five so that he could lure IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) into fighting him. But instead of getting a win, Tarver had to settle for getting a 12 round draw against Cunningham by the scores of 115-113 for Cunningham, 115-113 for Tarver, and 114-114.
By Dan Ambrose: IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux got some really bad news on Tuesday with the International Boxing Federation ordering #4 IBF Tureano Johnson (18-1, 13 KOs) and #7 IBF Eamonn O’Kane (14-1-1, 5 KOs) to begin negotiations for a fight.
By Allan Fox: IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) finds himself in a really tough situation right now as far as his next opponent goes. He was waiting out the results of the David Lemieux vs. Hassan N’Dam fight last Saturday night in hopes of getting a unification fight against the winner.
However, now that Lemieux has won the fight his trainer Oscar De La Hoya is insisting that he’ll be defending his newly won IBF middleweight title against his mandatory next, even though the IBF reportedly told Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler that Lemieux can face Golovkin next rather than his mandatory. But De La Hoya appears to prefer Lemieux facing his mandatory rather than Golovkin.
By Allan Fox: In an impressive punching display, #8 WBC, #12 WBA, #12 IBF middleweight contender Tureano Johnson (18-1, 13 KOs) stopped the 24-year-old Alex Theran (17-2, 10 KOs) in the 5th round on Friday night in a Roc Nation card at Madison Square Garden in New York.