The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MAKE it 10 in a row with another first round knockout for Taureano ‘Reno’ Johnson.

The time was one minute and 49 seconds as Johnson made Arturo Rodriguez his latest victim at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California, on Friday night.

“I was expecting a whole lot more. I went out there and I showed a little bit of the skills that I acquired over the last few months, but it didn’t play out that way,” said Johnson in an interview with The Tribune. “It played in my favour. I figured that he had a lot going for him, but I guess I underestimated my own strength and speed and technique.”

Johnson, the 28-year-old middleweight now residing in Georgia, said he was thankful that despite exploding on Rodriguez before referee Marcos Rosales stepped in and called it a night, no one got hurt.

“I don’t think I was ever touched in the whole fight,” Johnson stated. “In that minute of the fight, he didn’t put up any type of resistance.”

Johnson, who turned pro on March 5, 2010 with the first of four first round knockouts against Cleoney Fuqua after a successful amateur career that ended at the 2008 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, picked up his seventh knockout as he kept his undefeated record intact.

“To be 10-0 now puts me in the rankings with the big boxers,” said Johnson, who is still looking forward to getting his first major fight with a ranked fighter. “It feels great. I’ve been waiting for the moment to be 10-0. Right now, I must say this. I’m on a different level. I’m on a different cloud. This isn’t cloud nine anymore. This is cloud 10 for me. So this is the best feeling in my professional career right now.”

With a couple weeks off, Johnson is expected to be back in the ring on August 10 when he is scheduled to take on DonYi Livingstone at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon, California. The fight is scheduled for eight rounds, but Johnson said he’s not looking to go that far.

“We’re looking forward to an exciting match because he’s a good fighter like myself,” Johnson said. “We also have a card, although an opponent hasn’t been chosen yet, but we are also looking at fighting on the Pay-Per-View card in early September.”

But in the meantime, Johnson said he’s just riding his wave of success with another knockout and his 10th consecutive victory.

“I’m grateful for all that is happening to me right now,” he said. “God has been doing tremendous work in my life thus far and I’m expecting a whole lot more. I’m very pleased.”

Johnson said he’s just asking that the Bahamian people continue to offer a prayer for him because his goal is to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself as he goes after a world title shot in the future.