Alexander Training For Soto Karass Like it's a Title Fight

By Ryan Burton

On June 21st former two-division champion Devon Alexander makes his return to the ring when he faces rugged veteran Jesus Soto Karass at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. The bout will be broadcast by Showtime as part of a triple header.

Alexander is currently in the middle of his training camp and said that he will be in tip top shape come fight night.

"Training camp has been excellent. We have been in the gym working hard," said Alexander.

The St. Louis resident has fought some of the best fighters in his era including Tim Bradley, Lucas Matthysse, Shawn Porter, and Marcos Maidana. Even though Soto Karass doesn't have the same resume as those fighters, he insists that he is 100% focused on the task at hand.

"Karass is a great fighter. If you are not on point he has the power and grit to take you out so I am training for him as if I was fighting for the undisputed championship of the world," Alexander stated.

Soto Karass, who is from Sinaloa, Mexico, had a big 2013. He scored upset victories over Selcuk Aydin and Andre Berto which propelled him to a December fight against Keith Thurman. The Mexican was eventually stopped but landed some big shots of his own early on in the fight.

The win over Berto is clearly the most impressive performance of Soto Karass' career and Alexander has taken notice. He said that fight alone is reason enough not to take Soto Karass lightly.

"He had a great fight against Berto. He surprised me with the way that he handled Berto.  That showed me he isn't a guy that you can play around with," Alexander told BoxingScene.com.

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