The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

An overwhelming performance from Tureano Johnson earned the Bahamian pro boxer the NABF Middleweight title as he regained his status among the elites in the division.

Johnson defeated Ireland’s Jason Quigley via a 9th round stoppage in the 10-round main event of the Golden Boy DAZN Thursday Night Fights at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.

Johnson, 35, improved to 21-2-1, 14 KOs and handed the 28-year-old Quigley (16-1, 12 KOs) the first defeat of his professional career.

“This boy, he got heart. I threw the kitchen sink and the car behind me,” Johnson said in a post-fight interview.

Johnson has battled several injuries recently, having just three fights in three years due to nagging shoulder issues. He called this bout a career-defining moment and it was exactly the way he fought once the opening bell rang.

Johnson was ahead on the scorer’s cards in the first two rounds and took control in the third, forcing Quigley into the ropes and connecting with several successive combinations. By the sixth, Quigley suffered a cut over his right eye, and by the ninth, Johnson delivered several devastating body shots.

Quigley’s trainer Dominic Ingle stopped the fight just ahead of the 10th round bell to give Johnson the title.

“I’m here to be a world champion,” Johnson said, “Whoever got those belts, I want a Charlo, I want a Canelo, I want all of them!”