Tureano Johnson Stops Ireland’s Jason Quigley at Fantasy Springs

INDIO, Calif.-Tureano Johnson bulled his way to victory over Ireland’s Jason Quigley to hand the middleweight his first loss and take the NABF middleweight title away by knockout on Thursday evening.

It was a battle of two middleweight contenders on the cusp of challenging for a world title soon.

Bahamian fighter Johnson (21-2-1, 15 KOs) showed a crowd at Fantasy Springs Casino accustomed to seeing Quigley (16-1, 12 KOs) win, but instead they saw him suffer his first defeat. It’s back to Ireland.

At one time Johnson was nearly selected to fight for a world title against Gennady “GGG” Golovkin or David Lemieux, but he was derailed first by Curtis Stevens and then Sergiy Derevyanchenko. He knew exactly what this fight meant to his career.

Quigley had trained for several years in Southern California, but more than a year ago he decided to return closer to home in the United Kingdom. But fighting at Fantasy Springs Casino is familiar territory for the Irish boxer. He had previously performed at the casino in Indio six previous times.

Number seven was not so lucky.

Quigley started off quickly by using a stiff jab and stiff rights while pivoting left or right against the rushes of Johnson. For the first two rounds he was on point and won the two rounds.

The third round saw Johnson amp up the pressure and switch to a southpaw stance. He pummeled Quigley who was stuck along the ropes. The next round was even worse for Quigley as Johnson connected with a body shot that seemed to drain Quigley of any color. His hands went down and Johnson worked with uppercuts and slick counters. The momentum had dramatically shifted to Johnson.

It was all Johnson from that point on as he dominated Quigley on the inside. The Irish fighter seemed drained of blood and could hardly fire a punch with any energy. It became clear that Quigley had no more strength to fend off the attacks of Johnson. Though he was battered the rest of the way he never succumbed to the tremendous uppercuts and right hands. At the end of the ninth round referee Eddie Hernandez consulted with the ringside physician and declared the fight over. Johnson was the winner by knockout.

“I come inside this ring with so much on my back. That struggle is behind me now. I come ready for this boy, he got heart. I threw the kitchen sink on him and he don’t quit,” said Johnson after the win. “I’m here to be a world champion. I want a Canelo, I want a Daniel Jacobs, I want them all.”

NABA Super Bantamweight Fight

A battle between Mexican and Argentine warriors saw Mexicali’s Leonardo Baez (16-2, 9 KOs) outslug the former Argentine Olympian Alberto Melian (5-1, 3 KOs) to take the NABA super bantamweight title by unanimous decision.

Baez started quickly with an aggressive pounding attack that didn’t allow Melian to gain traction. By the time the Argentine fighter figured out what to do it was far too late. After 10 rounds all three judges saw it 97-93 for Baez. Both fighters showed tremendous ability to absorb big blows.

The win gives Baez a foothold on a possible showdown against WBA world titlist Danny Roman.

Marlen

NABO female flyweight titlist Marlen Esparza showed Mexico’s Sonia Osorio she was the quicker fighter by simply beating her to the punch for the first six rounds. In the last two frames Osorio seemed to catch up with Esparza’s speed and began timing the incoming blows. Still, it wasn’t enough to take the regional title away as all three judges scored in favor of Esparza 79-73 twice and 78-74. There were no knockdowns in the fight that saw the former Olympian score repeatedly with right hands.

“I think I did alright,” said Esparza. “I didn’t like that she kept putting her head in my chest. The ref didn’t call it but at least he was letting us fight. I eventually found my timing and started catching her with the right hand”

It was Esparza’s second fight this year after spending a year off for marriage and giving birth.

Other Bouts

A flyweight fight saw two knockdowns with the first two blows fired by Rialto, Calif.’s Ricardo Sandoval (16-1, 11 KOs) who then was dropped himself by Oceanside, Calif.’s Marco Sustaita (12-2-1, 10 KOs) all in the first round.

In the second round Sustaita floored Sandoval again with a counter left hook that evened the fight on the score cards. But after that knockdown Sandoval took over by using jabs and movement. He won every subsequent round.

Sandoval boxed and moved and kept Sustaita off balance. And when it was advantageous Sandoval caught his opponent with right leads and uppercuts. It was a lead right that wobbled Sustaita in the fifth round and Sandoval jumped on the opportunity to close out the fight with six more solid blows. Referee Eddie Hernandez stopped the fight at 1:16 of the fifth round to give Sandoval the WBC Youth Intercontinental title by knockout.

Carlos Morales (19-4-3, 8 KOs) didn’t waste time in showing his boxing superiority over Philippine southpaw Rosekie Cristobal (15-5, 11 KOs) and winning by knockout in the lightweight clash. Morales took advantage of Cristobal’s wide lefts and rights and shot a counter right down the middle to knock down the Filipino in the second round. Cristobal got up but was hit with a three-punch combination and sent back down with a thud. Referee Rudy Barragan counted the Filipino fighter out giving Morales the win by knockout at 1:08 of the second round.

Paramount’s Charles Huerta (21-6, 12 KOs)) was cruising along when either a punch or head butt bloodied his nose and Recky Dulay (11-6, 8 KOs) took advantage in the last three rounds. But it was a little too late as Huerta had used a stiff jab and right uppercuts to mount a big lead. After eight rounds in a lightweight bout the judges scored it 78-74 twice and 77-75 for Huerta.

Coachella’s Anthony Reyes (7-0, 4 KOs) clashed heads with Washington’s Gilberto Duran (3-4, 3 KOs) but it didn’t slow him down from flooring the Yakima super bantamweight in the first round with a left hook. Duran survived the first knockdown but Reyes opened up with a furious attack including a three-punch combination that sunk Duran again for good. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the fight at 2:10 of the first round giving Reyes the win by knockout.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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