By Steve Kim

After defeating Eamonn O'Kane on October 17th 2015 on the Gennady Golovkin-David Lemieux pay-per-view undercard at the Madison Square Garden in New York, Tureano Johnson (19-1, 13KOs) looked to be in prime position to face 'GGG' in 2016 as he was the IBF's top ranked challenger.

On that night at the Garden, Golovkin - who has the WBA, WBC, IBO world titles - added the IBF title to his collection by stopping Lemieux in eight rounds.

Unfortunately, an injury to his right rotator cuff sidelined him this year. But he'll get back to action on January 28th at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.

Robert Diaz, the head matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions told BoxingScene.com in a recent interview:

"He's coming back, he had an injury and he had surgery. He was out on the shelf rehabilitating, he's ready to get back in the picture. He'll have a good fight to test the shoulder to see how he's doing and then from then on take his positions as the (IBF) mandatory."

This card in late January is headlined by WBC 130-pound titlist Francisco Vargas (who faces Miguel Berchelt) and Takashi Miura (who is matched with Miguel Roman in the co-feature) - in bouts that will be televised by HBO.

According to Diaz, in addition to Diego De La Hoya and Johnson, young prospects like Cesar Diaz, Vergil Ortiz, Luis Coria and Lamont Roach will round out this card.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.