Even before the Andy Lee vs Billy Joe Saunders fight took place, the young Saunders had gone on record to say he wouldn’t be looking to face Gennady Golovkin next. Saunders beat Lee, picked up the WBO Middleweight strap, and then received a call from Golovkin’s team.
Personally, I don’t see that fight happening for some time, simply because Saunders (23-0, 12 KO) is a lot smarter than people give him credit for. The 26-year-old likes to climb the ranks at his own pace, and it would be uncharacteristic of him to rush into a fight with ‘GGG’.
But Golovkin and promoter K2 Promotions have a backup opponent in the frame already…
No drum roll is needed for the name Tureano Johnson (19-1, 13 KO), but he’s still a quality Middleweight challenger in my humble opinion. No, he’s probably not the man to topple Golovkin (34-0, 31 KO), but he’s an intelligent, well-schooled fighter, which we all got to see when he outclassed Eamonn O’Kane on the Golovkin vs Lemieux undercard last October.
Going in, O’Kane wasn’t a marquee name, but the fight was regarded as a pick’ em affair due to the brute strength and bullish style of the Irishman. O’Kane had his moments, proving his durability more than anything, but was knocked down twice in the opener en route to being cleverly outboxed before hearing the final bell.
While Johnson is a pretty solid talent, he does have that one blemish on his record, a stoppage loss to heavy-handed Curtis Stevens in 2014. Johnson was ahead on the cards in that scrap, but got caught with a monster punch (followed by a few more) which caused the referee to step in. Personally, I felt the referee halted the action at the right time despite many fans labelling the end ‘controversial’.
If Johnson signs up for the Golovkin showdown, April 23rd will be the date with New York’s Madison Square Garden the preferred venue. We’ll have more on this fight as it unfolds, but for now, who would you rather see Gennady Golovkin in the ring with next? Billy Joe Saunders or Tureano Johnson?
