Caleb “Golden” Truax (23-1-2, 14 KOs) of Osseo, Minnesota, admits he didn’t look so great in his last fight. Paired up against notorious spoiler Ossie Duran in January of this year, live on ESPN Friday Night Fights, Truax’s red-hot streak of victories came to a screeching halt, as he struggled to earn even a draw after 10 tough rounds.
“I don’t want to make excuses; I just had an off night,” said Truax. “I didn’t fight very well. Ossie Duran is tough, but I should have beaten him convincingly. I just didn’t. It’s my job with this fight to prove it was a fluke and that I’m a better fighter than that. And I will.”
30-year-old Truax will get the chance to redeem himself and restart his career momentum when he takes on former USBA Junior Middleweight Champion Derek “Pooh” Ennis (24-4-1, 13 KOs) in the co-main event of “Conquerors”, a night of ESPN Friday Night Fights boxing on Friday, July 25, 2014, at Chicago’s UIC Pavilion.
Truax says he’s not relying just on hope that his performance against Ennis will be stronger. He’s changed up his training regimen and lifestyle to help make sure. He also says he’s had Ennis in his sights before and is ready, despite him being a substitute for original opponent Porky Medina, who was injured.
Truax was riding a hot streak before the Duran setback. He looked strong against former world champion Jermain Taylor, even dropping Taylor in the ninth before losing a close decision. He then went on to take out local rivals Matt Vanda and Ceresso Fort and scored a nationally televised stoppage over then highly rated Don George.
The challenge will be to look so good against Ennis that his name starts coming up in discussions of big, televised fights.
“I made a few adjustments since my last camp and have started working with a personal trainer and nutritionist, so I’ll be a healthier as far as diet and have more energy when the fight comes around this time. It was a chance thing.
“I was preparing for the last fight and this guy, Josh Hutton, is someone I have mutual friends with in my hometown of Osseo. He ran into me in the gym and said he could help me out as far as nutrition goes and putting some science behind the things I’m doing. Me and my trainer, Tom Halstad, already did a lot of the same things, but he put some science behind it and it’s been paying dividends as far as strength goes.
“I’m moving more weight around in the gym and I’ve added more strength training and I’m doing several drills I wouldn’t normally do and it seems to help my energy. And as far as nutrition goes, he’s a real expert on making sure I get the most out of my body.
“I was supposed to fight him before Ossie Duran and he pulled out with two weeks to go, so I’ve already done quite a bit of studying on him. He’s a slick Philly boxer. He’s tough and he tries to box and use angles and make people miss. It’ll be up to me to take it to him and let him know what it’s like to be under pressure and hopefully what it’s like to be knocked out.
“I want the biggest fights possible on Showtime or HBO to challenge myself. It’s all up to my manager, Ron Lyke, and my promoters, when they think I’m ready. I was kind of hoping to get something big after the Duran fight but that didn’t go as planned and I kind of have to get back on track with this fight. I’m ready to do that.”
“Conquerors”, will also feature rejuvenated welterweight contender Roberto “La Amenaza” Garcia (35-3, 23 KOs) of Weslaco, Texas, taking on hard-hitting and dangerous Breidis “Khanqueror” Prescott (27-5, 20 KOs) of Miami, via Barranquilla, Colombia in the night’s 10-round main event. Scheduled to open the night’s worldwide, live broadcast is a light heavyweight six-rounder between Popular Chicago native and Notre Dame graduate Mike Lee (12-0, 7 KOs) and Paul Gonsalves (7-3, 3 KOs) of Hyannis, Massachusetts.
