Austin Trout vs. Luis Grajeda on December 11th

By Boxing News - 10/30/2014 - Comments

trout33By Dan Ambrose: #6 WBA Austin Trout (27-2, 14 KOs) will be back in the ring on December 11th in a 10 round bout against Luis Grajeda (17-3-2, 13 KOs) at the Pechanga Resort & Casino, in Temecula, California, USA.

Trout, 29, wants to make a move for a world title shot if he can get past the 27-year-old Grajeda on 12/11. However, Trout has lost 2 out of his last 3 fights, and looked poor in each of them.

Even if he does get past Grajeda, it’s hard to see Trout winning a world title unless he can somehow outbox the 41-year-old IBF junior middleweight champion Cornelius Bundrage. That’s the only champion at 154 that Trout would have a chance of beating at this point in his career.

“He [Grajeda] gave Willie [Nelson] a good fight so he’s a good gauge for me to see where I’m at. I’m not far away (from another title fight). After this one we should be ready to jump in head first next year,” Trout said to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com.

Grajeda lost a 10 round decision to Nelson last August in a fight that was surprisingly competitive. If that version of Grajeda shows up on December 11th then Trout could be in big trouble.

Trout looked really bad in his recent 10 round decision win over Daniel Dawson last August. Trout was dropped twice in the 3rd round, and he was troubled in a number of the other rounds. If Dawson had any real power, he likely would have knocked Trout out. In Trout’s previous two fights before that, he was beaten by Erislandy Lara and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

Former heavyweight world title challenger Chris Arreola (35-4, 31 KOs) is expected to be on the card against possibly Joe Hanks (21-2, 14 KOs). It’s a good fight for Arreola because he needs a solid win after his recent knockout loss to Bermane Stiverne. That defeat took a lot of the starch out of Arreola’s career, and it’s going to be tough for him to come back from that defeat.

Trout’s chin seems to have been compromised by his losses to Canelo and Lara. If a guy like Dawson was able to hurt Trout then it’s quite possible Grajeda could do the same, because he’s about as strong as him.



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