Tureano Johnson To Move Forward Despite Fight Collapse Snafu

by Steve Kim

Middleweight contender Tureano Johnson was set to make his return to the ring this past weekend at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, but after failing to make the middleweight limit, his opponent Antonio Gutierrez walked away from the fight.

Gutierrez refused to make a financial deal (that sources say would have gotten him a payday of $40,000) as a matter of principle.

But Jim Thomas, the attorney for Johnso,n told BoxingScene.com - "I don't think we ran into a fighter with principle, we ran into a fighter wouldn't possibly win and would not fight under any circumstances - including us giving Mr. Gutierrez all of the money from the fight, 100-percent, so we got absolutely nothing -  and he still said no over the difference of 1.6 pounds. That's how far Tureano was."

Johnson, who last fought on October 17th, 2015 (when he out-pointed Eamon O'Kane over twelve rounds on the Gennady Golovkin-David Lemieux undercard at Madison Square Garden) had been sidelined since that point with a shoulder injury that kept him out for all of 2016.

As for when he gets another fight scheduled for him, Thomas answered - ''As soon as possible, if we had a fight next week we'd do it. We're going to fight within the next six weeks and it'll be a quality opponent."

Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker, Robert Diaz, says he is now looking to book his next fight. Currently, Johnson (19-1, 13 KO's) is rated number one by the IB F who's title is held by Golovkin). It's not clear if this latest setback will affect his position.

"I hope it doesn't," said Thomas, best known for representing Evander Holyfield during his prime. "I don't think it should. If I were a decision maker it would not, I'm hoping it does not. I'm hoping we stay right where we are because we did everything we could do to get in there and fight and this guys calls it principle - I call it something else."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.