By Steve Kim

With WBO middleweight titlist Billy Joe Saunders bypassing an opportunity to unify his belt with WBA/IBO/IBF champ Gennady Golovkin, it seemed only logical that Tureano Johnson - the IBF's mandatory challenger - would be next in line to face Golovkin, who is scheduled to fight again on April 23rd on HBO.

But it turns out Johnson, who earned the number one ranking in the IBF by out-pointing Eamon O'Kane on October 17th at the Madison Square Garden in New York, will be unavailable for the time being.

Eric Gomez, the Vice President of Golden Boy Promotions explained to BoxingScene.com on early Wednesday evening - "He's got an injured shoulder, we're waiting for the doctors report to get all the information. It looks like he's going to need surgery."

Exactly which shoulder needed to be repaired was not specified by Gomez, who explained that Johnson had been nagged by pain coming into the O'Kane contest. So with that, Johnson(19-1, 13 KO's) will not be facing Golovkin or anyone else - "until he's cleared by the doctor,"said Gomez.

Golovkin knocked out David Lemieux in the main event of the previously mentioned MSG card last October. The April fight would be an interim-defense before a potential showdown with WBC champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in the fall - provided Canelo walks away with a win and without injury on May 7th, when the Mexican star is scheduled to fight again.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com