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Gennady Golovkin vs. Tureano Johnson planned if Billy Joe Saunders fight falls through

The current plan is for Golovkin to face Johnson, his IBF mandatory challenger, on April 23rd in Madison Square Garden if Saunders declines the fight.

Al Bello/Getty Images

As members of the community were quick to point out, the proposed middleweight showdown between WBO Champion Billy Joe Saunders and Pretty-Much-Everything-Else Champion Gennady Golovkin is a bit of a long shot. Luckily, there's a backup plan.

In addition to the Saunders fight, K2 Promotions are reportedly also pursuing a bout between Golovkin and IBF mandatory challenger Tureano Johnson, who defeated Eamonn O'Kane in an eliminator on the undercard of Golovkin's recent win over David Lemieux.

April 23rd and Madison Square Garden are the target date and location.

Johnson (19-1, 13 KO) thoroughly routed O'Kane with effective combination punching, extending his winning streak to five since his controversial loss to Curtis Stevens in 2014. His body of work may not be the toughest, but the Bahaman-born Olympian has some real skills and showed a solid chin against Stevens' concrete fists. Though Golovkin would undoubtedly prefer to face Saunders and lift his hardware, Johnson would by no means be a bad opponent.

We'll have more on this once they actually put pen to paper on the deal.

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