The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

TUREANO Johnson finds himself faced with the perspective of another mandatory elimination match if he is to remain the No.1 contender for the IBF middleweight title and continue his chase of Gennady Golovkin.

According to Boxing Scene, the International Boxing Federation has mandated that Johnson must square off with Sergiy Derevyanchenko of Ukraine to determine the challenger for Golovkin’s IBF middleweight title.

Johnson has until Friday (May 5) to accept the fight or risk losing his current spot atop the IBF rankings and could be dropped as far as out of the top 10.

Derevyanchenko, 31, and ranked second on the IBF challenger list, is undefeated in his young professional career thus far at 10-0, with 8 KOs. His last fight was a fifth round stoppage of Kemahl Russell in March.

Johnson, 31, returned to the ring last month after being sidelined for nearly a year-and-a-half with a second round knockout over Fabiano Pena. He improved to 20-1, 14 knockouts.

Both fighters represented their respective countries at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The winner will then attempt to outbox the dominant Golovkin and blemish his spotless 37-0, 33KOs record.

Johnson was originally intended to face Golovkin last April. However, the fight never took place for a myriad of reasons.

The Pena fight was Johnson’s first 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 fast track to an eventual title shot and prominence in the division.

He injured his shoulder in a unanimous decision win over Irishman Eamonn O’Kane on October 17, 2015. With the win, he became the mandatory No.1 contender. He further damaged the rotator cuff just ahead of his scheduled fight with Golovkin.

Johnson was granted a medical extension by the IBF but exceeded the permitted time for a mandatory challenger to remain inactive.

In January, Johnson was initially set to make his return to the ring. However, he 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 Borchelt.

He came in at 161.5 pounds, just over the maximum middleweight range of 154-160 pounds. Gutierrez and his camp then decided to call off the fight.