Bahamian middleweight fighter Taureano Johnson is considered to have one of the most electrifying personalities in the sport of boxing locally, with a record to back up his wise cracks and antics. However, coming off of four wins in his last four fights, he has yet to receive an offer to fight anyone atop the rankings.
The 2008 Olympian, who rose all the way to number five in the world as an amateur, has suffered just one loss in his professional career. That loss was back in April 2014 in a controversial decision to American Curtis Stevens. Since then, Johnson has reeled off four straight wins, including an impressive fifth-round knockout of Alex Theran on January 9 on the first fight card put on by Roc Nation Sports.
Johnson is highly ranked by all four major sanctioning bodies and has been pressing for a world title eliminator bout with Jorge Heiland. His name was also mentioned as a possible opponent for World Boxing Association's (WBA) and International Boxing Organization's (IBO) Middleweight Champion Gennady Golovkin, of Kazakhstan. That bout was originally talked about for last month, but Golovkin elected to face American Willie Monroe instead.
"I want all the champions in the middleweight division," Johnson said. "GGG (Golovkin), (Miguel) Cotto, bring them on. Both guys are looking for opponents, and I'm right here waiting. I'm highly ranked across the board, so there's no reason why these fights can't be made. I see flaws in both fighters that I know I can exploit. My promoter, Gary Shaw, is working hard to get me a big fight, and I'm confident I'll be back in the ring against a top-level fighter soon."
Shaw said that he knows that Johnson is ready to take on the challenge of a big fight and that he's doing his best to ensure that he gets it.
"Taureano Johnson is willing to get in the ring with any of the current champions. GGG and Cotto hold world titles, and both of them need an opponent. Johnson has said it loud and clear that he wants to fight either one of them. I will do my best to get him in the ring with either guy, as he is deserving of a world title opportunity."
Cotto is scheduled to fight Canelo Alvarez in what should be a mega fight this fall. Golovkin and his team are looking at options for a fall fight. Apparently, talks with the camp of Carl Froch, of Great Britain, have cooled off in recent weeks.
Johnson currently sports a win/loss record of 18-1 with 13 knockouts. In his Roc Nation Sports debut, he managed to reclaim his World Boxing Council's (WBC) Continental of Americas title and capture the vacant WBC Silver middleweight championship and the World Boxing Association's (WBA) International middleweight championship titles.
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