The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

IT was disappointment once again for Bahamian pro boxer Tureano Johnson, this time he was prevented from stepping into the ring just hours before his much anticipated return.

Johnson failed to make the weight for his scheduled 10-round middleweight bout against Antonio Gutierrez of Mexico and the fight was scratched from the undercard of Francisco Vargas-Miguel Berchelt.

Johnson-Gutierrez was expected to top the undercard (January 28) at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

Not only did it put a damper on the card, but on a return to the ring for the Bahamas’ top fighter after a 15 month absence due to injury.

He has yet to fight under Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions stable since making the switch in September 2015, a move that was expected to send him on the fastrack to an eventual title shot and prominence in the middle weight division.

Johnson, 31 injured his shoulder in a unanimous decision win over Irishman Eamonn O’Kane on October 17, 2015. With the win, he became the mandatory number one contender for the International Boxing Federation’s (IBF) middleweight title.

He further damaged his shoulder just ahead of his scheduled fight with IBF middleweight and unified champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. That fight was set to take place on April 23, 2016 but Johnson was forced to pass on it to undergo surgery.

He remains steadfast in his aim to challenge Golovkin in 2017 and fulfill his duty as the mandatory challenger.

Johnson (19-1, 13 KOs) came in at 164 pounds, four pounds over the maximum middleweight range of 154-160 pounds. Gutierrez (21-2-1, 9KOs) and his camp then decided to call off the fight.

In the remainder of the fights that took place on the card, Berchelt pulled off the upset and defeated Vargas by TKO at the 2:19 mark of round 12 to become the new WBC world lightweight champion.

In the co-feature, former WBC world super featherweight champion Takashi Miura defeated Miguel Roman by knockout at the 53 sec mark in round 12.

Welterweight contender Sadam “World Kid” Ali defeated Jorge “Pantera” Silva by TKO in the round three.

Local Indio, California product Luis Coria defeated Gerardo Molina, Lamont Roach Jr defeated Alejandro Valdez, and highly decorated amateur all-star Vergil Ortiz, Jr. defeated Israel Villela - all via first round knockout; while Cesar Diaz scored a second round knockout over Joel Cano.

Vicente “Suavecito” Portillo remained undefeated with a majority decision win over Mike Melikyan.

Johnson has won his last five fights, with two coming by way of technical knockout. His only loss was to American Curtis Stevens in 2014.

Johnson has high hopes for capturing a title to add to his WBC Silver Middleweight belt and become the country’s first world champion since Elisha Obed.

His addition to Golden Boy Promotions was intended to create new opportunities but they have yet to come to fruition thus far.

ESPN and Golden Boy Promotions last week announced a multi-year, international agreement for a series of fights to be televised live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. The first fight, from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, is March 23.

In the first year of the deal, ESPN will televise 18 fight cards throughout the U.S., in both English and Spanish, and on its wholly-owned and affiliated networks in Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, Australia and parts of Asia.