By Ryan Burton
BoxingScene.com speaks to middleweight prospect Caleb Truax (13-0 9 KOs) about his upcoming fight against former world champion Carl Daniels (50-18). The fight, originally scheduled for October 17th is now going to take place on November 20th and is for the vacant International Boxing Association Intercontinental middleweight title. See what the Minnesota native has to say about the fight and his future plans in this BoxingScene.com exclusive.
BoxingScene.com: Tell us about your upcoming fight with Carl Daniels.
Caleb Truax: It is coming up on November 20th man. It is going to be for the IBA Americas middleweight title. I am excited about it. He (Daniels) is a tough fighter. He has been in with just about everybody so I am anxious to see how I do against a guy that is battle tested like that.
BoxingScene.com: How has training gone?
Caleb Truax: It has gone well. The fight was originally scheduled for October 17th. By the time the fight comes around I probably will have had eight or nine weeks of training. I just took a couple days off when it was postponed and kept on working right through. I have had plenty of time to prepare. I got to go up to Talon Boxing up in Lake Arrowhead California for a week to do some altitude training. I am ready to go.
BoxingScene.com: Why was the fight postponed?
Caleb Truax: They were trying to line up the opponent and get the sanctioning of the belt taken care of. I am really not too sure.
BoxingScene.com: You mentioned that Daniels is very experienced. He has fought Bernard Hopkins. At the same time he has lost 14 out of his last 15 fights. Do you feel pressure to knock this guy out and win impressively?
Caleb Truax: I don't think about that too much. All I want to do is do what I do. Obviously it would be nice to get a knockout and get him out of there but at the same time I know he is an old fighter and he has definitely seen better days but he gives people good rounds. I think he went 8 rounds with Allan Green and he is obviously an awesome fighter. He went 10 rounds with Tony Bosante from my neck of the woods. I think it was his last fight so I am expecting to go 10 hard rounds and if I get the stop I will be happy.
BoxingScene.com: Assuming you win the belt and you get the experience you need in the fight where do you go from there?
Caleb Truax: I am not sure. They have some plans for me to hopefully move me out of state and get on the road and get some wins on the road. Pretty much all of my fights have been here in Minneapolis. Maybe get a tv spot and keep the momentum going.
BoxingScene.com: How many times do you want to fight next year?
Caleb Truax: I like to fight as much as possible. I have been going
about two and a half years and this is my fourteenth fight so they
have been keeping me busy. I would like to get 4,5 or six times in a
year if possible. Hopefully I don't get injured and they can make it
happen.
BoxingScene.com: Do you have a prediction for your fight?
Caleb Truax: It is going to be a great fight. It is going to be exciting like all my fights. The only prediction I am going to give is that I am going to keep the pace high and see how he reacts to the fast pace and hopefully I get him out of there in the middle to the
late rounds.
BoxingScene.com: Who do you like in the Dawson Johnson II?
Caleb Truax: I saw the first fight and I thought Glen Johnson won the fight. I like Chad Dawson in the second one. I think he is going to learn from the last fight and he will be stronger in the last rounds. I think Johnson kind of got to him in the late rounds in the first fight.
BoxingScene.com: Do you have a message for the fans out there?
Caleb Truax: Keep on supporting. I am loving all the support I am getting here in Minneapolis and around here in Minnesota. Nationwide get ready for me to have a big 2010 and a big finish to 2009 and hopefully you will see me in a city near you soon.
