Long Beach’s Johnson Will Fight Ohio’s Ward at the Forum Tonight

Reggie Johnson, the Long Beach middleweight who is seeking a championship match with International Boxing Federation champion Michael Nunn, will fight Ralph Ward of Akron, Ohio, in a 10-rounder at the Forum tonight.

In a co-main event, the Forum’s junior-middleweight tournament champion, Quincy Taylor of Dallas, will fight Jorge Vaca of Guadalajara, Mexico.

Tonight’s card replaces the Paul Banke-Daniel Zaragoza super-bantamweight title bout, postponed because Zaragoza began suffering severe headaches and an earache two weeks ago. Ward (14-4) is a substitute, filling in for Leuzie Morgan, who failed his pre-fight neurological exam.

Johnson is 26-1-1 and ranked No. 2 by the IBF behind Donald Curry, who will fight Nunn in Paris Oct. 18. Vaca (40-8-1), briefly the World Boxing Council welterweight champion in 1988, rates as an underdog against Taylor (14-1), who earned $83,000 for winning the Forum tournament last summer.