The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER a little over a year of inactivity, Taureano ‘Reno’ Johnson will be putting his undefeated record on the line when he faces Brooklyn middleweight Curtis Stevens on April 4.

The fight will be on the undercard of the Steve Cunningham-Amir Mansour heavyweight fight as part of the NBC Sports Network’s Fight Night series from the Liacouras Centre in Philadelphia, Pa.

The 30-year-old Johnson, who has returned to Florida to resume his training, has a 14-0 win-loss record with 10 knockouts.

“I’m an athlete so I’m training around the clock,” Johnson said in an interview with The Tribune. “I’ve been out of the ring for more than a year due to business and injury, but the way I’ve seen it, the things that would take an athlete to do in a year, I can do that in a week.”

With just four weeks to prepare for the fight, Johnson said he’s confident that he will be ready to give a good account of himself and hopefully retain his unblemished record at the end of the fight.

“I know I’m capable of taking on this fight and winning it, not just winning, but winning in grand style,” Johnson said. “The world can expect a different style from Taureano. I’m more of an elusive fighter as well as I’m more alert and I do have the stamina and power that I’ve been considered and recognised for over the years. So the world can expect a lot of changes, but they can expect a lot of changes for the best.”

While he was home over the past year, Johnson said he has been training under the watchful eyes of his sister, Kayla Johnson, and now he’s working out under coach Tony Bendicott.

“We’re trying to keep everything disclosed within the group,” Johnson said. “Curtis Stevens doesn’t know much about me. He’s been able to grasp just a little bit of information about me via YouTube. So we’re trying to keep everything down until the fight.”

Having not fought since February 22, 2013, when he won an eight round unanimous decision over Willie Fortune at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California, Johnson said he’s eager to get the ring rust off and go to work against Stevens.

“Considering the fact that I’m fighting Curtis Stevens, who is ranked in the top 10 in the world, if he’s not the No.1 ranked fighter, then I shouldn’t have much concern,” Johnson said. “It’s only Curtis Stevens.

“To me, I’m supposed to be a world-ranked fighter at this point in my career, but due to certain things, I’m not there yet. I’m a world champion and to me Curtis Stevens is not on my level yet. I can take the chance and go into the ring and fight a guy like that. Otherwise, if it was a more difficult fighter, I would have think twice before I took on a fight like this. But this is just another guy in the top 10, so I’m not concerned about him.”

In his last fight in January, Stevens (26-4, 19 knockouts) scored a 46-second knockout over Patrick Majewski to rebound from November’s eighth-round stoppage loss to WBA 160-pound title holder Gennady Golovkin.

“This is my life and my job. I like to fight and I don’t want to have a break too long,” said Stevens, who turned 29 on March 10. “I could get a little bit too relaxed. Hopefully, I can go six times this year.”

Back where he wants to be to resume his training, Johnson said he’s looking forward to the match-up and he’s not going to let his inactivity over the past year deter him from his goal of winning another fight.

“It’s like they’ve woken up a beast in me,” Johnson said. “I’ve been out with an injury before and I came back and I knocked out 10 of my opponents in 11 fights, so I can assure you that right now I’m more eager and determined to be better than I was before.”