Truax Talks Sigmon Bout, Wanting Jermain Taylor Again

by David P. Greisman

Middleweight prospect Caleb Truax’s bout this Saturday against Scott Sigmon was once expected to be on “Showtime Extreme” as a preliminary bout featured before Showtime’s broadcast tripleheader, a card that marks Truax’s first fight officially with Al Haymon as his adviser.

Truax was informed a few days beforehand that that there will no longer be a Showtime Extreme broadcast, but that there’s a slight possibility highlights from his bout could end up on the main broadcast.

He has been on Showtime before, given that his 2012 loss to Jermain Taylor aired on “ShoBox: The New Generation.” But Truax spoke with BoxingScene.com on Oct. 29 about the broadcast, about Sigmon, and about a potential rematch with Taylor, whom Truax knocked down.

BoxingScene.com: How do you feel about the news that your fight won’t be on Showtime Extreme?

Truax: “It doesn’t bother me too much. I mean, I’m getting paid the same either way, and I’m focused on the fight no matter what, so I’m just going to do my job. The only thing that sucks is I had a bunch of people who were having parties at their houses and some bars around town were going to show it. That kinda stinks to tell everybody that their plans are ruined for Saturday night. Hopefully I get a spectacular knockout and they show it on the main broadcast on Showtime.”

BoxingScene.com: Does that put any additional pressure on you to get that highlight-reel knockout?

Truax: “No, no. If anything, now it’s not on TV so there’s probably less pressure. But no, I don’t think along those lines.”

BoxingScene.com: How important would that kind of TV exposure been for what you’re looking to do with your career, even on a Showtime Extreme broadcast?

Truax: “It would’ve been nice. Obviously the more people that see you, the better. What I wanted to get was a dominating performance on TV. But like I said, I’m just focused on the win, and that’s all that really matters at the end of the day. That’s what I’m going to set out to do, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

BoxingScene.com: How familiar are you with Scott Sigmon?

Truax: “I’ve seen a few fights of his on YouTube. I’ve mainly been watching the Kelly Pavlik fight from a few years ago. One of them was against a left-hander, so I didn’t really watch that too much. And then one against Jimmy Campbell [from 2012] was just a few rounds, I watched that one. He is what he is. He’s going to come forward. He’s going to try to make it a rough fight. It’s just my job to be more skilled and keep him away from me and catch him making mistakes and counter.”

BoxingScene.com: He has been stopped twice, once by Pavlik and once by Phillip Jackson Benson. Does that indicate anything to you about his punch resistance, or was it more a matter of who it was against?

Truax: “Watching that fight with Pavlik, he’s tough. Pavlik is obviously a big puncher, and he went eight rounds with him, and Pavlik was beating the tar out of him. So I expect him to be tough and bring a good fight. Hopefully I can get a stoppage. I’m going to go to the body a lot, because I don’t think Pavlik did that enough against this guy. He seems like he’s got a hard head. From what I heard about [Jackson-Benson], I guess he beat him up pretty good too and stopped him in six. This guy’s tough. I’m not going to take that way from him. I’m expecting a hard fight and just got to do what I do and box and counter.”

BoxingScene.com: This fight is at 163. I see that Sigmon’s fought heavier before, and I know you have as well. Are you expecting him to have any kind of size advantage on you in the ring?

Truax: “Not at all. I think he’s a smaller guy than me. He’s a few inches shorter than me, I know that, and I’m a pretty big middleweight for that size. I’ve never really been in the ring with anybody that’s had a definitive size advantage over me.”

BoxingScene.com: What are you expecting on Saturday?

Truax: “I expect it to be an exciting fight while it lasts. I think he makes too many mistakes for me not to capitalize and get him out of there. He leans forward a lot. He’s open for uppercuts all day long. I think I’ll be able to get a stoppage, but I’m not gunning for me. I’m just going to go out and do my thing like I always do. If it comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’ll get the win either way.”

BoxingScene.com: Though you’d signed with Al Haymon a little before your last bout, this is officially your first fight with him. Given the path he has in mind for you, what do you think this win over Sigmon, if you do win, does for your next fight?

Truax: “I think it’s a good step for me. I’d love to get a big fight after, but I’m willing to take whatever as long as he [Haymon] can keep me busy. I’d like a big fight after this with whoever is available. I just want to fight, man. That’s all I do.”

BoxingScene.com: Have there been any indications about whether a big fight would be next, and against whom?

Truax: “No. I think my promoters, Tony Grygelko [of Seconds Out Promotions] and Warriors Boxing, I think they have something in mind with Al, but I told them not to tell me about it until after the fight so I wouldn’t get distracted by it. We’ll see after I get by Sigmon.”

BoxingScene.com: You’re with an adviser who’s got Peter Quillin, Jermain Taylor and Danny Jacobs. Is there one that you want more than the other or who you think is more likely than the other?

Truax: “I’d love to fight any of those three. I’d be perfectly fine with fighting them next after this. Obviously Jermain Taylor just won the IBF title against [Sam] Soliman. I’d love to get a rematch with him. That was kind of one of the selling points for signing with Haymon, with prospects of getting the rematch with Jermain Taylor. We’ll see how things shake out. Boxing is all about who’s going to sell the biggest fights. If my name falls in with any of those three, I’d be happy to take the fight and step up anywhere, anytime.”

BoxingScene.com: How do you think Taylor looked against Soliman, and how does it make you feel about him having a world title again?

Truax: “It’s bittersweet, man. One side of me was thinking, ‘Why the hell is this guy winning a world title after I dropped him and he’d fought only bums outside of me on his comeback tour?’ The other half of me was happy for him and hoping I’d get a shot at him.”

BoxingScene.com: What’s the difference between the Caleb Truax who fought Taylor in April 2012 and who you are as a fighter now?

Truax: “I’ve grown by leaps and bounds. I’m a much better fighter because of that fight. I’ve got more confidence in myself. I know that I belong in the upper echelon of middleweights in the whole world, and I’ve just grown as a fighter tremendously in those two and a half years.”

BoxingScene.com: And how do you feel Taylor looked against Soliman compared to the guy you faced in the ring?

Truax: “I thought he looked similar to what I fought. He used his jab and held when he needed to and was kind of wild with his right hand. I thought Soliman, even before he got hurt, was terrible. Taylor did what he had to do and he probably should’ve finished a guy off that was hurt right in front of him. I give him credit because he did what he had to do.”

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com