The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

JUST hours away before they square off in the ring for the most important bout of their careers to date, Bahamian pro fighter Tureano Johnson and his opponent Eamonn O’Kane continue to trade verbal jabs during promotion.

Johnson, ranked fourth by the IBF (18-1, 13 KO), is slated to face Ireland-native O’Kane (14-1-1, 5 KO) at Madison Square Garden, New York, on October 17.

Both fighters offered less than kind words with Simon Collins in Irish-based media outlet, the Derry Journal.

O’Kane has sparred with fellow countryman Sean McGlinchey and suggested that the 2014 Commonwealth Games medallist, as an amateur, is even better than Johnson.

“Sean has been brilliant,” said O’Kane. “He’s been definitely helping me tick the boxes in terms of preparation for Johnson. “That’s why we brought him in. He’s got the Commonwealth bronze medal behind him and he’s a talented boxer. For me he’s better than Tureano Johnson. He’s tough, durable, talented and he’s been pushing me and that’s exactly what you want.”

Johnson said despite what is going on at his opponent’s camp, his focus remains on getting himself ready.

“I’ve taken a few looks at O’Kane but it’s rare that we do that,” Johnson said. “We didn’t go into great detail because our main objective is not to critique my opponent but to critique myself. We do a lot of studying of myself more so than my opponent. O’Kane’s a good fighter but what I’ve realised is most of O’Kane’s fights have been in his hometown in Ireland. Because of that, the level of competition has not been one that has been impressive. Not to belittle him but his record is not one that is very decorated as far as opponents go. If he was at the level I’m at he would be expected to blow them out of the water without ever being fatigued or getting hurt but he has got hurt many times. So he hasn’t been up against the kind of opposition I’ve been up against.”

Johnson said fans should expect both fighters to put their best fist forward, making for a thrilling bout in the historic arena.

“I’m expecting to be at my best against Eamonn O’Kane who I’m hoping will bring his best game so we can give the fans an exciting fight,” he said. “If you want to watch a good fight, this is it! You’re not going to get that running around, ballerina stuff inside the ring. You’re going to get two strong sluggers going all out and giving the fans exactly what they want and that’s excitement.

This will be the first appearance for the 31-year-old Johnson in the ring since he won the vacant WBA International and WBC Silver middleweight titles over Alex Theran in Madison Square Garden in a five-round decision on January 9. The bout was recently added to the list of HBO televised fights on the undercard of the HBO Boxing Pay-Per-View, highlighted by the much anticipated Gennady Golovkin versus David Lemieux bout.

The winner of the Johnson/O’Kane bout will become the mandatory challenger to the IBF title currently held by Lemieux. It now joins the list of televised bouts on the card which also includes the aforementioned main event in addition to Råmon Gonzålez versus Brian Viloria and Luis Ortiz versus Matias Vidando.

“They’ve heard me from time to time calling out O’Kane and Triple G and now I have the opportunity to be in the same arena with them,” Johnson said. “So once winning this fight, which I am most certain of, the fans will get a chance to see me go for a world title shot very soon.”