By Thomas Gerbasi

“Get it together Trout. This is not what you came here to do. This is not the statement you were trying to make.”

As those thoughts raced through Austin Trout’s head during his August bout against Australia’s Daniel Dawson, the New Mexico native was getting off the canvas for the second time in the third round, wondering what was going wrong.

In December of 2012, he was the WBA junior middleweight champion of the world, coming off the biggest win of his career over Miguel Cotto. After years of being the B-side and fighting anyone and everyone in search of a big fight, he got it and capitalized on it.

Now, less than two years later, he lost his title, dropped back-to-back fights to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Erislandy Lara, and in what was supposed to be his comeback he was looking at a 10-7 round and a huge hole to dig out of against the upset-minded Dawson.

Trout walked back to his corner, and he was clear-minded enough to know what was staring him in the face.

“Worry was an understatement; panic would be more accurate,” he recalled. “But I was more frustrated and disappointed with myself for allowing that to happen.”

With 60 seconds to get back on track, Trout’s coaches Bobby Benton and Louie Burke quickly went to work before round four began.

“My corner got me back to the game plan,” Trout said. “Bobby Benton was like 'look, stop trying to take his head off. You're being too aggressive. Go back to what works.'”

The southpaw veteran did just that, rebounding from that third round mess to regain the lead, drop Dawson in the eighth round, and finish up with a 10-round unanimous decision victory. It was a win on more than just the judges’ scorecards.

“They can't question my heart,” he said. “I've never been one to turn down a fight, and I'm gonna try to fight and get that win regardless of the situation. So I think it showed my character and my heart in that fight.”

Knowing that Trout will not only outbox you and beat you technically, but also gut out a trench war could have returned him to the days when he couldn’t find a big name willing to fight him. But more likely, getting dropped twice by Dawson added that little bit of vulnerability that may have a champion at 154 pounds willing to add “No Doubt” to his dance card in 2015, and Trout is fine with that.

“I hope they do underestimate me,” he said. “I think it (the Dawson fight) will make them feel like they have the upper hand with me.”

Trout knows better, but before he can start looking forward to a run back to the title next year, he’s got business tonight in Temecula, California against Mexico’s Luis Grajeda. The 27-year-old from Chihuahua is tough, but limited, the perfect foe for Trout to look good against, but Grajeda can crack, which makes it an intriguing bout. Trout isn’t about to let this knockdown stuff become a habit though, especially after taking trips to the deck against Lara and Alvarez, so to get some different looks, he trained with Barry Hunter and Mike Stafford in Washington, D.C. for this fight, while retaining longtime coach Burke in his corner as well.

“Working with Barry and Mike was something I wanted to do for a few years now,” Trout said. “I had the pleasure of working with Mike in the amateurs when I was on the U.S. team and I always wanted to get back. Not saying there was anything wrong with Bobby Benton and Louie Burke, but I would hate to go through my career wondering 'what if?' So I pulled the trigger and made it happen. I'm very happy with the decision, I still have Louie Burke in my corner, and I just wanted to see if there was somebody who could bring something else out of me.”

It’s always risking switching things up at this point in a fighter’s career, but Trout couldn’t have been happier with the results on the east coast, saying that he and his new coaches had good chemistry from the moment he stepped into the gym. As for the sparring he got in D.C., let’s just say he didn’t have to look too far to get good work from the likes of Anthony and Lamont Peterson, Hank Lundy, Robert Easter, and Jamel Herring, just to name a few.

“That was a selling point for me,” Trout said. “The sparring out here is amazing. There are so many different looks, and I jump in there, get my ass whupped, and it's all good because I know for a fact that I'm going to be ready for whatever comes on fight night.”

He also has some plans for next year if all goes well, and if his rising off the deck twice to Dawson didn’t prove the depth of his fighting spirit, his desire to get back at the two men who beat him should.

“In a perfect world in 2015, I get back to a world title and I get to unify my world title with a rematch against either Lara or Canelo,” he said. “I'm very rematch-minded and world title-minded.”