The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE stars aligned for Tureano Johnson’s opportunity at a major middleweight title, but that opportunity is now on hold as a shoulder injury has sidelined the Bahamian pro boxer.

According to ESPN senior writer Dan Rafael, it is a nagging rotator cuff injury, which may eventually require surgery.

Johnson was the likely candidate to face IBF, IBO and WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in an eagerly anticipated bout in April.

Johnson earned his spot as mandatory contender when he dominated Eamonn O’Kane on the undercard of Golovkin’s most recent victory, a knockout over David Lemieux in October’s Pay-Per-View event.

Johnson scored a win via unanimous decision over O’Kane to improve to 19-1 (13 KOs), but suffered a shoulder injury in the process.

It was his first time going 12 rounds in a bout and 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.

Johnson joined Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions late last year prior to the bout with O’Kane.

Eric Gomez, vice president of Golden Boy Promotions, told ESPN.com that Johnson had been feeling discomfort in his shoulder and visited a local doctor here in the Bahamas.

“Tureano will come to the States for a second opinion,” Gomez said.

“But for the time being the fight with GGG is off. We will not allow him to fight until he is 100 per cent medically cleared.”

The decision on who will face “GGG” Golovkin came down to Johnson once Englishman Billy Joe Saunders was ruled out by his camp.

Golovkin’s coach Abel Sanchez told boxingscene.com that they are willing to face either fighter in the near future.

“At the end of the day we do have a mandatory that we have to take care of with Tureano. Tureano has earned the right to fight for the IBF title,” he said.