Johnson KO'd in 12th round

Tureano 'Reno' Johnson (right) in action against Sergiy Derevyanchenko.

As of Saturday, August 26, 2017

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN Tureano 'Reno' Johnson was stopped in the 12th and final round by unbeaten Sergiy Derevyanchenko of Ukraine in their IBF middleweight eliminator on Friday night at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma.

Putting up a gritty performance, Derevyanchenko broke down Johnson and dropped him in round twelve to end the fight that was carried live on Sports 1/Fox Deportes.

With the win, Dervyanchenko improved to 11-0 with nine knockouts and will now take on the winner of the match-up between Gennady Golovkin, the IBF, World Boxing Council and co-World Boxing Association champion and challenger Canelo Alvarez, which is set for September 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Johnson, whose record dropped to 20-2 with 14 KOs, had originally earned a mandatory shot at Golovkin after he destroyed Eamonn O'Kane in an elimination fight on October 17, 2015 on the undercard of Golovkin's unification fight with David Lemieux. However, Johnson suffered a severe shoulder injury in the bout. The injury required surgery and Johnson did not fight again until he returned for a second-round knockout win against Fabiano Pena on March 23.