By Cliff Rold

Putting a tough stoppage loss behind him, 30-year old 2008 Bahamian Olympian Tureano Johnson (15-1, 10 KO) won a lopsided unanimous decision over ten rounds against 28-year old Mike Gavronski (14-1-1, 10 KO) of Tacoma, Washington, on Friday night at the Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton, Washington.

Johnson came in a pound under the Middleweight limit at 159, Gavronski at 160.  The referee was Tom Taylor.

Gavronski got off to a quick start, jogging from the corner and immediately letting loose with three jabs.  The long armed local hustled to command the first two minutes, touching Johnson to the body and with several right uppercuts.  Looking for a comfortable position, Johnson switched back and forth from orthodox to southpaw, finding some range in the final minute and pressing forward with single, stiff shots.

The second was contested at close quarters, Gavronski again firing in bunches while Johnson waited for spots to land hard counters.  In the late going, a right hand appeared to stun Gavronski but he dug in and went forward before anything else could land.

Over the next three rounds it was Johnson seizing the momentum, blasting hard shots at a Gavronski whose offense grew less sharp with each nasty counter.  In the sixth, Gavrosnki backed off a little, moving and looking for answers he wasn’t finding on the inside.

Looking for range wasn’t working out so Gavronski was back inside looking for volume in round eight.  His flailing offense was offset by the pounding accuracy of Johnson and, in a moment of exhaustion, Gavronski slipped to the floor late in the round.  The ring doctor took a look at Gavronski before the ninth, giving him extra recovery time before the next three minutes unfolded.

The extra time served Gavronski well, the ninth featuring a burst of early offense as the crowd chanted “Mike!” loudly for their man.  He ate some hard right hands in the second half of the round but gave the judges a reason to look his way with a round to go.

With the heel of his left shoe hanging loose below him, Gavronski held for long stretches of the tenth as Johnson looked to finish the night strong.  At the closing bell, Johnson appeared to have done enough to win.

It turned out he’d done more than enough.  All three judges arrived at near shutout scores of 99-91 for Johnson who rebounds nicely from a controversial stoppage loss to Curtis Stevens in April. 

A two-minute fourth round and a single bizarre scorecard couldn’t steal the thunder from the easy winner in the televised opener.

A two-minute fourth round and a single bizarre scorecard couldn’t steal the thunder from the easy winner in the televised opener.

30-year old Peruvian Lightweight Jonathan Maicelo (20-1, 12 KO), 134 ½, of North Bergen, New Jersey, used superior speed of hand and foot to control pressuring Armenian 32-year old Art Hovhannisyan (17-2-2, 9 KO), 134 ½, of Glendale, California.  Hovhannisyan had some success early, and both men bit down in an exciting fifth, but their faces told the tale at the end.  Hovhannisyan’s badly swollen mug spoke to the long night he’d had.  Press though he might, more often he was taking than receiving.

The closing scores were odd.  A shocking 96-94 score for Hovhannisyan was rationally overruled at 100-90 and 97-93 for Maicelo.  Maicelo is 2-0 with one “No Contest” since a stoppage loss to Rustam Nugaev in April 2013.

The card was broadcast in the US on ESPN2 as part of its “Friday Night Fights” series, promoted by Gary Shaw Productions.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com