Tureano Johnson Wins IBF Eliminator; No Luck For the Irishman

In the first PPV bout, we saw Bahamian Tureano Johnson take on Irishman Eammon O’Kane in an IBF middleweight eliminator at MSG in NYC, underneath #GolovkinLemieux. Johnson was on message, sharp, his balance and his aim on target. He threatened early stop, but then things stabilized, and he got into a good groove. The judges had no drama: TJ won by scores of 118-108, 117-109, 119-107.

After, the winner said, “This is my first time going 12-round 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. Winning this title eliminator really makes everything for me come full circle and legitimizes 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.”

In round one, O got angles on TJ. T, from lefty stance, banged him to the mat. O grabbed on, held. Down he went again, though.

He did better in round two, not going down. TJ was righty in this round, and that looked to help the Irishman. In the third, TJ used both stances. O was in better shape, had his legs, and maybe he was adapting. To the fourth…the flow was stabilized. In the fifth, more high volume. TJ slipped and ducked well, as a righty, scored with counter rights, then uppers, a few of them. This was a toe to toe tangle..To the sixth..O was now bulling forward, had a handle on the TJ power. In round seven, TJ was moving his torso and head more, and his legs. Low hands hurt O’Kane, but TJ’s power dropped, so he stayed aloft. To the ninth…more toe to toe. The right cross landed every time on O.

In round ten, lefty TJ got tagged clean with a left, but the Irish lad needed a ton more of that to close the gap. The Irish rooters liked when he had TJ in a corner. In the 11th, no one pulled away. Same for the 12th..To the cards we went.

Luis Ortiz the heavyweight blasted Matias Vidondo in round two and threatened to stop him. The Cuban, 237.8, was too sharp for the 20-1-1 lad.

Ortiz, now 23-0, ended it in round three. The last blast was a left follow after a wide right hook from the lefty tussler. After, he said, “I deserve this win and deserve to fight the best. Vidondo did hit hard but he wasn’t good enough to face me. Everyone can see that I dominated the fight. I want to fight the best and I want Golden Boy Promotions to keep its promise and get me the best. I am ready for Klitschko, I know he is running from me. I am going to come after him. I am just ready to become the heavyweight champion of the world.”

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