Tag Archives: Jermain Taylor

Q & A with Caleb “Golden” Truax (19,1,1), Part 1… He fights November 17, Crown Plaza, Saint Paul, MN.

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Alfonso Vazquez (left), Caleb Truax (right)

Below is part one of our Q & A with Caleb Truax…..

Jermain Taylor, What do you take away from that fight? And how close do you feel he was to being stopped?

Even though I lost, I took a wealth of experience away from fighting Taylor. It was an eye opener as to what it takes to win on the next level, on the road, in a big TV fight, ect. Most importantly, I now know I can hang with the best in the world and that’s a huge confidence booster.

I know you never over-look what is in your direct path, but, do you feel like you may get another shot at Taylor?

I have my fingers crossed. There have been discussions but I’m not holding my breath.

September 22 you were able to fight at home again, how did it feel to fight in front of your fans for the first time in over a year?

It was great fighting in MN again after a long layoff. I love being able to put on a show in front of all my family, friends, and hometown fans.

Minnesota has produced an official local ranking system. You are the only current Minnesota State champ. As an accomplished Minnesota pro boxer, what are your thoughts on the ranking system and do feel it will generate more interest locally?

The titles are a decent promotional tool and it’s cool to be considered the MN champ, but the rankings are a novelty. They are a cool point of discussion for fans, but fighters shouldn’t pay to much attention to them because they don’t really mean anything.

After slowing way down, it seems like boxing in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin is picking up again. How far off do you think we are from making some decent statements nationally?

Honestly, I think The region has some good fighters that could compete nationally. The only area it is lacking is numbers. Until there are more fighters in the gyms locally to better each other in sparring and training, I don’t think we’ll see too much of a change.

You and your team have done a great job in working your way up the boxing ladder. What advise would you give some of the regions younger talent as they try and work their way through the business of boxing?

Do it the right way. Fundamentals and conditioning are paramount in developing into a fighter that can compete in MN and nationally. Also, I see too many fighters from MN fighting guys that are overmatched and do nothing to help you improve. Fighting guys that have no business even being in the ring will leave you in for a big surprise when you take your 1st big step up.

Part 2 of this Q & A next week… We get into his November 17 fight… MNBoxingLeague on Facebook.

Caleb “Golden” Truax (18,0,1) vs Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor (29,4,1) Tonight in Showtime’s Main.

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Update: Taylor wins over Truax by UD, Truax did put Taylor down in the 9th.

Huge fight tonight for both Truax and Taylor. Taylor has eyes set on getting back into belt contention and being considered in the pound for pound list. It wasn’t that long ago that people were singing Jermain’s praises and watching with much admiration as he went after the best fighters in his division early in his career. But several brutal knockout losses and his tendency to fade late in fights had/have people wondering if continuing his boxing career is the best move for him professionally and for his own well-being. He fought Jessie Nicklow in his first fight back after his KO loss to Arthur Abraham in October of 2009 during his stint in the “Super Six”. Taylor was able to stop Nicklow in the 8th round of the scheduled 10 round bout. Most see this fight with Truax as a nice step up from Nicklow and if things go well for Jermain, fans hope to see him in with one of the best middles in the World. HOLD UP…….

Caleb “Golden” Truax (18,0,1) has much to say about all of Taylor’s plans. This is his big shot and with a team that has moved him perfectly, I have to think this is a well planned step up. Trust, this is not the first big fight opportunity that Truax has been presented with, in fact they turned down Taylor’s first comeback fight so they could study the new Taylor if a future opportunity came up. Caleb has not taken the easy way to his (18,0,1) record. Yes, much of the competition was “regional” but some of those “regional” fighters are very good. He has fought; Jonathan Reid, Antwun Echols, Phil Williams twice, Andy Kolle, and Kerry Hope (obviously Hope is not regional, but does not change my point). At the time Truax fought Hope many did not give him the appropriate credit for that fight. Let me toot my own horn here, I said all along that Hope was one of the stiffest fights he had had or would have in regional competition ( again, obviously Hope is not regional, but does not change my point). Most know that Kerry Hope just beat Grzegorz Proka for the European Middleweight title. What I am getting at is, other than the long lay-off Truax has had, he is very ready for this step up in competition.

Truax told me shortly before he set off for Mississippi….”Camp was very productive. I’m right where I need to be heading into the biggest fight of my career.” I asked him his thoughts on fighting away from home in what probably will be a pro Taylor crowd…. “I’m not too concerned with the crowd because I know all my family, friends, and fans are behind me 100%!”

I predict a very good fight. Taylor will be faster but I expect Truax to always be in his business and trying to counter. To be honest, both have had issues fading late in fights and that may be what this one comes down to. I have been telling everyone that Caleb Truax will be bringing Minnesota home a big W. I will admit that much of that talk is the homer in me, but I do feel this is a great opportunity on a great stage for Truax to show what many feel in their hearts. Truax by SD….

Todd Bechthold

Some outside of state perspective and nice write-up on maxboxing.com here

Love Boxing? April, May, June, July, Lots to love!

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NOTES:

Boxing has not been this hot in the upper midwest for years. Tomorrow night brings what Minnesota fight fans have been waiting a long time for, a very winnable and competitive nationally televised fight. Caleb “Golden” Truax (18,0,1) gets his chance to shine in the bright lights against a man in Jermain Taylor who many think is a shadow of his former world class self. Now I don’t know about all of that, Taylor will be tough and he and his team look at this fight as just another step back to where they feel they rightly belong, in talks of title fights…. Most know my pick on this one, but I will save that for tomorrow along with a few last quotes from Truax…. weigh photos and weights from fightnews.com

RJ "T-Rex" Laase (8,1) sport The League T

April 7 in the twin ports brought out close to 1500 fans to see local favorites Andy “Kaos” Kolle (25,3), RJ “T-Rex” Laase (8,1) and T-Rex Promotions debut show. And the beautiful part is, as one of Minnesota’s premier match makers put it, Cory Rapacz, “the show was the best over all show put on in northern MN in years.” From production to action it will be hard to beat that total package.

RDS and Cory Rapacz have a great show of their own scheduled for May 12 at the Hyatt in Minneapolis MN. The Main event is reason enough to get out to this one. Wilton Hilario and Jeremy McLaurin fight it out for super featherweight supremacy. The much talked about and long awaited debut of one of the nation’s best amateur fighters Robert Brant has boxing people buzzing. Most observers seem to think he will translate his immense amateur success into Professional stardom, but one fight at a time, lol… Also fighting will be Aaron “Gorilla” Green (5,0), the bad blood match between “Bad” Brad Patraw (7,4) and Dustin “Bull Dog” Mason (3,0), Donny Drama and Tony Lee in separate bouts…

June could bring up to 3 professional boxing cards to the three state area of MN, WI, and ND. It looks like 2 of the shows will be June 23, one at Black Bear Casino featuring Dave Peterson (13,0) vs Cerresso Fort (12,0,1), also featuring Al Sands (2,1). The other looks to be in the twin cities and possibly having Winston Anderson and RJ Laase fighting. There is yet another rumored card, but that is all I know of it. This is boxing so all you see on June could change by May.

T-Rex Promotions looks to get back in action in July/August as well as a brand new promoter. Good times indeed….

 

Todd Bechthold

Punches in bunches….

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Things really are heating up for midwest fighters. Last Saturday brought nearly 1500 fans to   Wessman Arena to Watch RJ “T-Rex” Laase enter the promotional game. It was a $10 a ticket show and nobody left disappointed. One fan said after Winston Anderson’s debut (now 1,0), “that might have been the most exciting round of boxing I have seen.” Everyone was talking about Dustin “Bull Dog” Mason and Aaron “Gorilla’ Green’s impressive stoppages. But the night belonged to T-Rex and Kaos. Andy “Kaos” Kolle may have put on the performance of his career in fighting one handed for almost the whole fight. He broke his left (he is a southpaw) in the first round of an 8 rounder. Kolle proceeded to put on a display of tremendous heart, footwork and boxing skill in winning a wide UD over the much bigger opponent. RJ “T-Rex” Laase (8,1) got more love from the crowd than he could have ever imagined. The crowd went absolutely nuts when T-Rex entered the ring and somehow got even louder after his thrilling KO of Donny Drama…..Clips from Northland’s News Center

There are three shows confirmed for the next couple months. April 28, Minot ND is putting on a boxing event featuring primarily local talent, half of the card may be Kickboxing or another form of martial art. May 12 brings boxing back to Minneapolis featuring Wilton Hilario vs Jeremy McLaurin in the main event. Great Fight! Also on this card is the debut of amateur stand out Robert Brant. A fight many are itching to see is Dustin “Bull Dog” Mason vs “Bad” Brad Patraw, these two have some bad blood. Glad RDS and Cory Rapacz were able to get it done. Aaron “Gorilla” Green, Tony Lee and Donny Drama will also be fighting on this card.

June looks to bring fans two shows, one confirmed, June 23 at Black Bear Casino featuring Al Sands (2,1). Al will be looking to come back from being stopped in his last fight by area fighter TJ Gibson (1,2). It is also said they plan on having a MN Jr. Middleweight title fight to be announced Tuesday. Minnesota’s best 154, Andy “Kaos” Kolle is on the shelf with a broken hand, so my guess is Dave Peterson vs ?. It is not yet known if this is a promotional title or a sanctioned MN belt. Details are slim on the other June show but we have been told it is happening.

Last but most important, Caleb “Golden” Truax will be fighting in the main event of Showtime’s next televised card, April 20. He will be fighting Jermain Tayor, who is looking to get back to the top of his class. Personally, I think Truax is about to shock the world..

 

Todd Bechthold

Camp is going great for Caleb “Golden” Truax.

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I had the opportunity to watch some of Golden Truax’s sparring with Alfonso Vazquez last night at Uppercut Boxing Gym. Purely from a spectators standpoint Truax is looking sharp and strong mid way through camp. Caleb said he was feeling great about how camp was going up to this point and he and trainer Tom Halstad were confident in their strategy for April 20th’s bout with Jermain Taylor.

 

Caleb Truax (left) getting work in with Alfonso Vazquez

 

 

“Golden” Caleb Truax to fight Jermain Taylor April 20….

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This is not really new news, but like I’ve said time and time again, we’re not here to break news. Sometimes breaking news breaks deals…. Caleb Truax and Jermain Taylor made it official yesterday, they fight April 20………………………

It’s been quite interesting watching the rumors fly about this fight for the last couple weeks. There has been much posturing by camps that thought their guy should be in this fight with Taylor. In doing so, many a disparaging word has been said about Truax and about his competition. Trust, I get it, MN has not exactly proven itself recently to be up to the spotlight. But I honestly don’t believe this to be one of those instances. Truax has been brought along close to perfectly and has passed every challenge presented to him. The big knock I have read is competition, well, his boxrec looks much like other prospects who are (18,0). He has not been fead a steady diet of easy fights as many Midwest fighters of the past have gotten to plump up their records. Yes, Caleb doesn’t have a top 15 on his record, but now would be the time those things would be on the horizon. Caleb was slated to take the kind of fight people are looking for back in January against Brandon “Flawless” Gonzales (15,0). Gonzales pulled out with injury leaving Team Truax out in the cold. Many consider this fight with Taylor as another step in Jermain’s path back to the top. I personally think its a great move by team Truax in continuing his growth as a fighter and stepping up the competition while getting a guy at the right time. Yes, I can not wait for this fight.