Northern Irish middleweight contender and IBF #3, Eamonn O’Kane (14-1-1, 5ko) is set to face far and away the biggest test of his career when he enters a considerable underdog against Bahamian former Olympian and IBF #4 Tureano Johnson (18-1, 13ko) on the under card of the highly anticipated Gennady Golovkin/David Lemieux HBO PPV bill on October 17th at Madison Square Garden, New York.
The winner of the bout will become mandatory challenger to the IBF title currently held by Lemieux, and following the official announcement earlier this week, O’Kane – who is in training at Abel Sanchez’s Summit facility in preparation for the contest, tweeted; “I’m pleased to announce I will be winning my mandatory position for the WBA & IBF titles Oct 17th Madison Square Garden #AttitudeIsEverything.”
Speaking in the Derry Journal, the 33 year old Irishman added;
“There’s no bigger stage than Madison Square Garden. It’s exciting but I’m trying not to let that distract me. I’m focused on what I’m good at.
“I can sit back in years to come and look back at where I fought. (But) For now I have to focus on getting myself ready.
“It’s the biggest fight of my life,” he continued. “We’re making sure everything’s right as far as training, weight and my conditioning is concerned, so we’re ahead of the game.”
Gary Shaw co-promotes the dangerous Johnson for his next couple of bouts, but has sold his contract to Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy outfit. “Tureano is a great fighter and will beat O’Kane,” he said to ESPN.com. “He will go on to win the world title.”
Beijing 2008 Olympian Johnson, whose sole blemish is a last round stoppage loss to Curtis Stevens in a fight he was winning on points, said of his hook-up with GBP;
“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.”
“Tureano Johnson has proven himself to be a top contender in the middleweight division,” Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya said at the fight announcement.
“This year, the middleweight division has catapulted itself back into the forefront of boxing with a caliber of talent reminiscent of legendary fighters like Carlos ‘Escopeta’ Monzon, ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler and Bernard ‘The Alien’ Hopkins.
“Johnson has demonstrated his ability to become a champion and with Golden Boy Promotions at his side, he has the opportunity to grow into a top middleweight of this era.”
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