by Luis Sandoval
It wasn’t too long ago that Austin Trout was considered an unknown champion who had never even fought on United States television. Things have changed immensely since as Trout is ready to partake in one of the year’s most anticipated and high profile fights against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on the heels of defeating Puerto Rican superstar Miguel Cotto last year.
Much like his fight against Cotto, Austin will once again go into hostile territory as San Antonio will resemble Alvarez’s backyard as the majority of fans will be Mexican and in support of the red headed champion. While Trout was able to get a decision in New York against Cotto, one has to wonder can the same be done in San Antonio; especially if the fight is close.
Trout has repeatedly said he will not worry about the judges as he can only worry about what he’s going to do in the ring. When Trout was on the most recent episode of BoxingScene Radio, he was asked that even though he can’t concern himself with the judges, would he go in and try to take matters into his own hands if the fight was close in the later rounds.
“Definitely. We're going to do that anyway. Whether we were in Las Cruces, NM with my cousins judging the fight, if I felt like the fight was close I'm still going to step on the gas and try to pull away. I don't want to leave no doubt in there. I don't want to leave any thoughts in the air,” Trout would tell BoxingScene Radio.
“You know people are going to try to discredit my victory regardless so I just have to give them less reasons to have any say so about why I won. For example, before Cotto we had people telling me 'You're not on Cotto's level! He just went to war with the best pound for pound fighter!’ And then after I won, those same people that said that, what did they say? 'Wow, you just beat a washed up little Cotto'. So yeah, they're going to discredit anything. I'm curious to see how they try to discredit this fight because Canelo is a bit of a beast. He's young, he's in his prime, he's undefeated so there shouldn't be any excuses why he loses but I'm sure they'll be real creative in making one up,” said Trout.
A bout with two fighters in their primes, undefeated, and champions doesn’t come along all that often. For Trout, this fight will serve as proof that he is indeed the best Junior Middleweight in the world even if others refuse to acknowledge or give him the proper credit.
“Boxing has the best and worst fans ever. And I say that because they have some fans that are real loyal and never speak bad about whomever and then you have those boxing fans that will never give you any credit no matter what you do. So I'm not going to bank on what other people say or do, I'm just going to bank on how I feel and what I know is true in my heart. I already feel like I'm the best 154 pound champion but beating Canelo would be proving that I'm the best 154 pound champ,” declared the WBA champion.
To listen to Austin Trout’s interview in its entirety, listen to the BoxingScene Radio podcast: http://tobtr.com/s/4530497
You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter @Truewest007. You can also tune in to BoxingScene Radio, Boxingscene’s official audio show every Tuesday from 6-8PM PST with hosts Ernest Gabion, Luis Sandoval, and Ryan Burton.
