By Jake Donovan

The first meeting between Caleb Truax and Peter Quillin resulted in a No-Contest.

Efforts to produce a second meeting has resulted in no contest at all.

A reaggravated injury sustained by Truax during training camp forced him to formally withdraw from a scheduled Aug. 31 rematch with Quillin, which was due to take place in his home region of Minneapolis, Minn.

The official diagnosis was “a high-grade, partial-thickness tear of the Achilles tendon on his right ankle” according to Dr. Paul Schaefer of Health Partners’ Stillwater Medical Group. “In my judgement, he will not be properly rehabbed and conditioned in time for the scheduled match. I am concerned he would put his personal safety at risk engaging in this fight.”

The Athletic boxing insider Mike Coppinger was first to report the injury last week—though the extent of it unknown at the time.

Truax (30-4-2, 19KOs) first suffered the injury in March according to a press release issued by his team. The timeiine puts the starting point one month ahead of his first bout with Quillin, which aired live on FS1 at the very same venue this past April.

That bout ended inside of two rounds when a clash of heads left Truax with a deep cut over his eye which deemed too severe to continue. It literally added insult to injury, given the road to recovery. At the time, he was given the option to either undergo surgery—which would have postponed the local headliner—or continue with non-operative therapy, for which he opted in order to preserve the bout and of the belief the injury would fully heal.

The rehabilitation process began with his having to wear a boot for six weeks before moving on to physical therapy. Progress was made, only to revert nearly back to the beginning as he went deeper into training camp, thus forcing him to withdraw from the show.

Truax and Quillin were due to once again collide in a super middleweight title eliminator between former alphabet titlists. Their bout was part of a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Fox telecast at the Minneapolis Armory, which will go on as planned absent the local attraction. Erislandy Lara (25-3-3, 14KOs) and Ramon Alvarez (28-7-3, 16KOs)—the older and significantly less boxing-accomplished brother of World middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez—headline the show in a secondary title fight at super welterweight.

This time around, their planned fight didn’t even have a chance to begin as discomfort during training camp forced the former super middleweight to shut it all down.

“I’ve been training hard every day, and I’ve always prided myself on pushing through any injuries,” stated Truax (30-4-2, 19KOs). “But I know my body, and I know when enough is enough.I’m disappointed because this was a huge opportunity to take a big step toward regaining my IBF super middleweight title.

“I’m disappointed for all my fans because I wanted to put on a great show for them at The Armory. But I didn’t want to go into this fight, not being able to perform at a level that people are used to seeing from me and also performing at a level so I can defeat a world-class fighter like Peter Quillin.”

The winner would have been in line for a mandatory challenge of reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) 168-pound titlist Caleb Plant.

Truax briefly held that title, scoring a major upset on the road in a 12-round decision win over James DeGale in Dec. 2017 clash in England. The reign lasted just four months, with DeGale reclaiming the title in their rematch last April.

Just two fights have followed for Truax, both taking place at the Minneapolis Armory. He rebounded with a tune-up win last August before his aforementioned clash with Quillin (34-1-1, 23KOs), a former middleweight titlist who has fought just three times since a stunning 1st round knockout loss to Daniel Jacobs in Dec. 2015.

Quillin is expected to remain on the show, although it is not yet known whether a replacement opponent has been secured. Event handlers have not yet responded to inquiries placed by BoxingScene.com seeking comment as this goes to publish.

As for Truax, rest and relaxation are next on the agenda for the foreseeable future.

“This was an unexpected setback in a highly-anticipated bout for Caleb,” Tony Grygelko, Truax’s local promoter stated. “But Caleb’s health and well-being is our top priority, above all else.” 

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox