Prospect Watch: Caleb Truax Talks Career, Pavlik-Martinez

By Ryan Burton

 

Middleweight prospect Caleb Truax (14-0) talks to BoxingScene.com about his upcoming fight with Phil Williams (11-3).  The bout is on April 23rd in St. Paul Minnesota.  Truax talks about the keys to victory, the revenge factor and also weighs in on the Pavlik-Martinez fight in this exclusive interview.

 

BoxingScene.com:  Tell us about your upcoming fight with Phil Williams?

 

Caleb Truax:  It is the revenge fight for me.  I can't wait for it.  I can't wait for next Friday.  Phil beat me in the amateurs when I first started out.  He was the defending the amateur champion and he barely beat me when I first started out.  This is a good chance for revenge.

 

BoxingScene.com:  I take it you must have asked for this fight then?

 

Caleb Truax:  Yeah I did.  Phil has been fighting a little heavier than me so I didn't know if it was going to come to be but he was able to make it down to 165 a couple fights ago so I said lets do it.  He signed for the fight and we are ready to go.

 

BoxingScene.com:  So is this a middleweight fight or is it at a catchweight?

 

Caleb Truax:  It is going to be at 164.  I think it might for the Minnesota Super Middleweight title or something like that.  He usually fights from 168 to 175 and I fight from 160 to 168 so we sucked him down to 164 and I plan on smashing him.

 

BoxingScene.com:  How is training going for the fight?

 

Caleb Truax:  It is going great.  I haven't fought since November because I had a cut in my last fight.  I had to set out of a while and then I had some fights fall through. I have been training for a while and I think that this is the first time in my last four or five fights that I had the same opponent through out my training camp.  Usually I keep getting the opponent switched on me.  I am feeling good and ready to go.

 

BoxingScene.com:  That was going to be my next question.  Why haven't you fought since November?  Is it just because of the cut?

 

Caleb Truax:  I had nine stiches.  It wasn't that bad of a cut but we were going to sit out eight weeks just to be sure it healed.  I didn't have anything pressing or any big fights set up and then I had a couple fights fall through.  We had one fall through in February.  Then they were trying to get a TV date and that fell through as well.  So we ended up fighting April 23rd.

 

BoxingScene.com:  You are 14-0 right now.  Where do you see yourself at the end of the year?

 

Caleb Truax:  Unbeaten still.  Hopefully getting some TV exposure and hopefully fitting in with the rest of the middleweight prospects that are hot right now.  I have the talent that they do.  I just need the experience they have.  I didn't have a lot of amateur fights.  I had like 40 or so fights.  I need to take as many fights as I can and build my experience.  I need to get some TV time.  I think I am exciting to watch and stay unbeaten.  I will keep on marching towards a title.

 

BoxingScene.com:  There is a big fight coming up in your division. Who do you think wins the Pavlik-Martinez fight?

 

Caleb Truax:  I like watching Kelly Pavlik.  He brings a lot of fans and he is exciting knocking people out.  I like Martinez though man.  I think he is a great boxer and he is pretty crafty.  We saw what happened to Kelly when he fought B-Hop.  B-Hop kept moving and outboxed him.  I am going to go with the underdog and go with Martinez even though if Pavlik catches him clean I know he will knock him out.

 

BoxingScene.com:  What did you think of the Paul Williams versus Martinez fight?

 

Caleb Truax:  I thought Martinez won that won.  I thought he landed the cleaner punches and it could have went either way.  It was a great fight and that is all I know.  I can't wait to see that one again.  Hopefully they have a rematch.

 

BoxingScene.com:  Who did you look up to when you were coming up through the amateurs?

 

Caleb Truax:  Well I always looked up to the guys who are fighting May 1st in Mayweather and Mosley.  As far as boxing goes I always looked up to B-Hop because he has been able to do it for so long and he has always been so dedicated and he is a consumate professional.  Outside of boxing I would say Oscar de la Hoya because he has been such a successful business man and he gives a lot back to the community and that is what I want to do when I get in that position.

 

BoxingScene.com:  How would you describe the boxing scene in your native Minnesota?

 

Caleb Truax:  It is growing definitely.  We have a lot of talent in the amateurs going through the system.  We have some really good pros that are poised to step up this year.  We didn't have a commission when I first started.  Actually in my first year was the first year they reinstated the commission.  They had taken it out for a while so we couldn't really make our living here.  We had to go to different states.  It definitely is making a comeback.  We are not a powerhouse or anything like that but we have some good fighters.

 

BoxingScene.com:  Do you have a message for the fans?

 

Caleb Truax:  Just keep on supporting me.  I love them all and they have been great to me so far.  Hopefully I can take my fight on the road soon and give the rest of the country a chance to see me.  Please come out on April 23rd like they always do.  It will be a great night.