Austin Trout: Miguel Cotto Had His Time; This Is My Time!
Sep 1, 2012 • 4:28 AM ET
By Ryan Maquiñana
Shortly after receiving the news Friday that he would be fighting Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Dec. 1, junior middleweight titleholder Austin “No Doubt” Trout of Las Cruces, N.M., spoke to Jorge Hernandez of SWFights.com on the matter.
TROUT’S INITIAL REACTION TO SECURING THE FIGHT:
“I said, ‘Get out of here.’ A couple bleeps in there. I didn’t believe it because we’ve had a lot of talks before but never had something so tangible.”
“I’ve been doing backflips all day. It’s definitely a dream come true and a great opportunity to get where I need to be in this boxing game.”
ON WHETHER HE WAS SURPRISED TO FIND HIS NAME OPPOSITE COTTO’S:
“Yes sir, it was a big shock to us all, but I tell you what. I’m ready. I’m more ready than Spongebob at his first day of work.”
ON THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS:
“[Trout’s advisor] Al Haymon made it happen. He put his magic to work and made it happen…I knew Al had something in store. He kept telling me he had something good for me. I didn’t know to what extent of how big he had it. I guess I knew he had something up his sleeve for about two weeks.”
ON BEING IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN LAST YEAR FOR COTTO-MARGARITO II:
“A year ago, I was there for the Antonio Margarito fight [with Cotto], and God willing, he put me in there a year later in the Garden.”
“I’m definitely a visionary type of person, so all I said the whole time was, ‘I can’t wait until I get there.’ "
ON WHETHER THE CONTRACTS HAVE BEEN SIGNED:
“Of course, it’s never official until the contract is filed, so until I have that piece of paper in my hand, you know, I’m just going to stay borderline ecstatic instead of really losing my mind. I don’t want to lose too much energy being ecstatic and then something happen, so I’m waiting for that contract."
ON HIS JOURNEY FROM FIGHTING OUTSIDE THE U.S. TO MAJOR MAIN EVENT STATUS:
“It’s all on God’s time. Maybe he felt like I wasn’t ready at the time, but I have no doubt that I am more than capable of taking this task ahead of me. And to do it in New York where my family’s out of, and Madison Square Garden where the Knicks play--which I’m a big fan of--it’s definitely a dream come true. A lot of hard work has been put into this.”
ON HIS FAMILY'S ROOTS IN NEW YORK:
“My mother was born and raised in Brooklyn. She came down here from the Army, so that’s how I got stuck here [in New Mexico]. (Laughs)”
ON WHETHER HAVING THE WBA BELT WAS IMPORTANT IN GETTING THE BOUT:
“If I didn’t have the belt, I’m sure I wouldn’t have got the fight.”
ON MATCHING UP WITH COTTO:
“This is my time, and I’m so excited that it’s going to be on this stage against a superstar and a respectable fighter like Cotto. He had his time, and now it’s my time. Big shout-out to Cotto for taking this fight.”
Ryan Maquiñana is the boxing producer for NBCOlympics.com and writes a weekly boxing column for CSNBayArea.com. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Ratings Panel for Ring Magazine. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his blog at Norcalboxing.net, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.
