The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

IN dominant fashion, Bahamian boxing icon Tureano “Reno” Johnson staked his claim as a major contender for the International Boxing Federation’s middleweight title.

Johnson scored a win via unanimous decision over Eamonn O’Kane of Ireland in the IBF middleweight eliminator in Madison Square Garden, New York City, on Saturday night. He improved to 19-1 (13 KOs) while O’Kane fell to 17-2-1 (five KOs).

The bout appeared on the undercard of the HBO Boxing Pay-Per-View, highlighted by the much anticipated Gennady Golovkin versus David Lemieux bout.

Golovkin defeated Lemieux via eight-round stoppage and added the IBF middleweight title to his WBA and IBO titles.

With the win, Johnson becomes the mandatory challenger to the IBF title.

“This was my first time going 12 rounds and man does it feel good. It was a tough fight, no matter how many times O’Kane went down he kept coming at me. I have respect for him as a fighter,” Johnson said to sweetscience.com following the fight. “Winning this title eliminator really makes everything for me come full circle and legitimises me as a true threat in the middleweight division. You know this was a great fight that everyone enjoyed, a true brawl, very Mexican style. This is the beginning for me, the sky is the limit.”

The judges’ scorecard reflected Johnson’s dominance over the course of the bout - 118-108, 117-109 and 119-107.

Johnson established his advantage very early on and scored a pair of knockdowns within the first three minutes of the fight.

He connected with a series of right hands and a vicious hook sent O’Kane to the canvas at the 1:20 mark in the round, although he emerged following the standing eight count.

Johnson dominated an exchange shortly after and another right hand sent O’Kane to the canvas with 40 seconds left in the round.

He looked well on his way to scoring an early win, but O’Kane stood tall and continued to absorb shots from Johnson.

The Irishman fought his way back into the fight and by the fifth round seemed to gain an advantage, constantly backing up Johnson against the ropes and initiating exchanges between the two.

Later, Johnson was able to re-establish himself with a series of uppercuts, hooks and crosses to the body and head.

According to official CompuBox statistics, Johnson landed more punches, including 58 per cent of his power shots (396 of 687).

His efficiency set a new CompuBox power punch record for the middleweight division to surpass the 375 punches that Bernard Hopkins landed against William Joppy.

This was 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.

With just one fight under his belt under Roc Nation Sports and inactivity since the Theran bout, Johnson made the move to Golden Boy Promotions in August.

Johnson said the move was necessary if he was to progress in his career at the pace he desired.

“At this point in my career, it is important for me to stay focused on my goals which are to fight, to provide for my family, to make my country proud, but ultimately to do what I was born to do – to become a world champion.”

With his change in promoter, Johnson has also decided to revamp his whole team, bringing in a new trainer and manager.

“With a new team, trainer (Tyrone Jones), manager (Garcia O Staley Sr of Titanium Sports & Entertainment) and promoter in Golden Boy, I would say I have made a golden decision,” Johnson said. “The legacy lives on.”

“I’m ready to fight Gennady Golovkin, Miguel Cotto, Jermaine Taylor or any other champion out there,” he said following the match against Theran last January. “These are the types of fights I would like to pursue. Everyone knows I should be undefeated so I’m going to leave no doubt about it every time I step in the ring.”