The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

NEVER one to hold his tongue when it comes to taking verbal shots at other fighters in his weight class, Tureano Johnson is already looking ahead to his next move as he continues to position himself for a major title fight.

Johnson had strong words for Miguel Cotto, who he sees as a possible target in a bout for early 2016.

Johnson, ranked  fourth by the IBF (18-1, 13 KO), is slated to face Eamonn O’Kane (14-1-1, 5 KO) at Madison Square Garden, New York, on October 17. The fight will be on the undercard of the HBO Boxing Pay-Per-View, highlighted by the highly anticipated Gennady Golovkin versus David Lemieux bout.

Johnson will look to take on either the winner of the Golovkin/Leieux match or the Cotto/‘Canelo’ Alvarez match.

“I think we need to clear up that he [Cotto] is not a middleweight. I do not respect the manner that he got to have the WBC middleweight title. I see ‘Canelo Alvarez winning that fight. It’s a tough fight but I see him winning,” Johnson told Ben Jacobs of  Boxing Scene.

“I think Cotto has made some very good business deals. A decision like going against Daniel Geale, nobody gave him a chance of beating Cotto at any point in his career or any of the great middle weight fighters out there today.”

Should the two eventually square off in the ring, Johnson has made his stance clear on his feelings toward the Cotto, the 34-year-old Puerto Rican who has won titles in four different weight classes.

“As far as commenting on him, I have always respected his style, I respect him as a fighter but as of late, the decisions that he has taken in the weight class that I am in is a disgrace. It’s an embarrassment for a middleweight to fight in a lower weight class rather than fight at the mandatory limit. It’s not for him to dictate what that weight class is. There is much to say but none of it good from me about Miguel Cotto.

Both Cotto and Johnson were members of Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports before Johnson left the company in August to sign with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.

Johnson, 31, said the move was necessary if he was to progress in his career at the pace he desired.

“At this point in my career, it is important for me to stay focused on my goals which are to fight, to provide for my family, to make my country proud, but ultimately to do what I was born to do – to become a world champion.”

With his change in promoter, Johnson has also decided to revamp his whole team, bringing in a new trainer and manager.

“With a new team, trainer (Tyrone Jones), manager (Garcia O Staley Sr of Titanium Sports & Entertainment) and promoter in Golden Boy, I would say I have made a golden decision,” Johnson said. “The legacy lives on.”

Johnson is currently ranked at No. 8 in the WBC, No. 12 in the WBA and No. 12 in the International Boxing Federation.