FIGHTING TO STAY BUSY
Former world champ Trout, at 35, is back in action Saturday SPORTS >> B1
After having fought once in 2019 and once in 2020, this was Las Cruces boxer Austin Trout’s New Year’s resolution for 2021: get busy and stay that way.
Saturday’s 10-round main event in Chihuahua, Mexico, against Juan Armando Garcia, the former world champion says, is only the beginning.
“I want to take it back to the good old Macho Camacho days,” Trout said in a phone interview from Houston, where he’s based in preparation for Saturday’s bout. “... He fought 10 times in a year. I’m trying to get at least half that.”
At 35, Trout (32-5-1, 18 knockouts) believes his slick, southpaw skills remain what they were 10 years ago this month, when he defeated Rigoberto Alvarez for the WBA junior middleweight title. He just needs a chance to display them.
“When I’m sharp and when
I’m in shape and when I’m active, I don’t feel like there’s really anybody that can mess with me as of right now,” he said.
“I’m 35 years young. I understand that this is a young man’s sport, but I still feel good . ... I feel like my skills are still there, and even more importantly, my ring IQ is still there and getting better.”
After winning the WBA title, Trout defended the belt four times — including a victory over Puerto Rican legend Miguel Cotto — before losing to Canelo Alvarez, Rigoberto’s younger brother, in an April 2013 title-unification bout.
Since then, Trout has lost four times, all in world title or interim world title bouts. Trout’s five losses have been against fighters with a cumulative record at the time of those bouts of 132-1-3 (no typo).
After his loss to Jermell Charlo in June 2018, opportunities with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions dried up. After 11 months off, Trout fought to a draw with Terrell Gausha in May 2019.
Last February, Trout stopped Rosbel Montoya at Mescalero’s Inn of the Mountain Gods on a card promoted by Impact Network. But Impact disappeared from the scene after COVID-19 brought boxing to a temporary halt. Now, though televised and streamed cards are being staged, boxing in the U.S. has not returned to its pre-virus levels.
So, Trout took matters into his own hands, reaching out to Mexican promoter Franco Gabaldon. Though the two had not worked together, Trout knew the territory, having fought in Mexico three times before. His world title victory over Rigoberto Alvarez took place in Guadalajara.
Travel in pursuit of his chosen profession is nothing new for Trout. He’s fought in Panama and Canada as well as in Mexico, and traveled to Greece as an Olympic alternate in 2004.
In the here and now, there’s Garcia, whose record (21-7-2, 12 KOs) does not suggest he’s a threat to defeat a boxer of Trout’s talents and credentials. He can’t afford to look at it that way.
“He definitely comes forward,” Trout said. “He throws some big, heavy shots. He likes to hook a lot. He likes to stay on your chest.
“It’s a fight that I’d better be in shape for, because it seems like he’s gonna bring heat until he can’t bring it anymore.”
Gabaldon’s company, Promociones Paquime, staged three cards last year during the pandemic. Trout said he’s confident the proper measures will be in place Saturday.
“There’s no crowd for this fight, it’s gonna be streamed only,” he said. “... They seem to be taking high safety precautions to make sure everybody’s healthy.”
COWBOY VS. DIEGO: As reported Thursday by multiple online sources, Edgewood’s Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Albuquerque’s Diego Sanchez, former teammates at Albuquerque’s Jackson-Wink MMA, have agreed to meet May 8 on a UFC card.
Sanchez (30-13) and Cerrone (36-15) are two of the UFC’s foundation fighters. Sanchez, 39, won the UFC’s very first The Ultimate Fighter promotion in 2005. Cerrone, 37, fought in the WEC, owned by the UFC’s parent company, beginning in 2007. He made his UFC debut in 2011.
THE RENEGADE RETURNS: Santa Fe MMA flyweight Jerome “The Renegade” Rivera (10-4) has accepted a fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, on a UFC Fight Night card Saturday against Ode’ Osbourne, just 17 days after the New Mexican’s loss by unanimous decision to Francisco Figueiredo in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Rivera stepped in after Denys Bondar, Osbourne’s original opponent, dropped out.