Caleb Truax Q&A: The story of a true Christmas fairy-tale in London

By Boxing News - 12/20/2017 - Comments

Image: Caleb Truax Q&A: The story of a true Christmas fairy-tale in London

By Ian Aldous: It would be a little harsh on Caleb Truax to call what he achieved on December 9th at the Copper Box Arena a miracle, but it was certainly a Christmas fairytale. Fans watching on BT Sport in the UK and on Showtime’s Facebook and Youtube streams witnessed the massive underdog put on the performance of his life to rip the IBF super-middleweight world championship from James DeGale. Last week, after returning home to the U.S., Caleb took some time to talk with me over the phone about the fight and its aftermath.

IA: So, pre-fight you were largely written off by British fight fans as a tune-up for DeGale, how confident were you that you could come over and genuinely win?

CT: I was 100% confident, man. I’m a fighter that had never really taken a fight on short notice and I’m not going to take a fight unless I’m confident I can win. They offered the fight and I had about seven weeks to train, so basically it was a full camp. My coach, Tom Halstad, drew up a great game plan, and my whole team, when I was offered the fight, sat down and watched him before I even watched some film on DeGale, they thought this was a guy I could beat! He was ripe for the picking after a lay-off and they figured he would be overlooking me – which he was. Yeah, I came over with 100% confidence that I would be returning home with the belt.

IA: Without being spectacular it looked like DeGale controlled the first couple of rounds, did it feel like that to you?

CT: No, I think he probably won the first round, just on landing some jabs and landing a couple of overhand lefts, but he wasn’t hurting me. More importantly, I knew I probably lost those rounds on the cards, but I was winning those rounds in my mind in terms of fighting the fight that I wanted to fight. Right from the very get-go, I had him backing up and up against the ropes. Even though I wasn’t able to take advantage of it until about round three, we were fighting the fight in the area that I wanted to fight it. He wasn’t boxing in the middle of the ring, he wasn’t coming forward and pushing me backwards. I had him on the run and had him up against the ropes even in those first rounds that I lost. I was confident it was just a matter of time before I started getting to him.

IA: You had your best round in the fifth when you really knocked his head back with several brutal shots. Did it feel like that was the fight-changing round in your eyes?

CT: Yeah, I think the third round was when I really started rolling and feeling good and getting my shots to the target, fourth round – same thing. But, in the fifth I kind of broke through and really hurt him. I hit him with a six or seven punch combination and all of them landed real flush. I thought I was going to stop him right there. I give him credit that he kept on fighting. After that, I could tell I hurt him and landed some good body shots, so I kind of took a little gas out of his tank. After that, it was all downhill for him.

IA: What do you think was the deciding factor? Was it your fitness and the pressure you were putting him under?

CT: I think it was just the game plan and the fact that I was able to execute exactly what I wanted to do. I was able to stifle pretty much everything he did and I had good foot positioning the whole fight, like staying outside of his right foot, so he couldn’t really land that left hand. I was just staying close to him so he couldn’t really jab that much. I wasn’t giving him any space to box – if I did, I wasn’t going to be able to outbox him in the middle of the ring. I just wanted to make it into a fight and keep him backing up. Overall, it was the strategy and my ability to execute my coach’s game plan.

IA: What were your immediate thoughts as the bell sounded to end the twelfth and final round? It barely looked like you’d taken a punch! Were you worried about a hometown decision going DeGale’s way?

CT: You saw me drop down to my knees, in my mind it was wide enough to where they couldn’t rob me, I thought it was like 9-3 (rounds in his favour), or 8-4. I’m thinking there’s no way they’re going to rob me and I was feeling good. I was confident in the British judges and British boxing in general. Then I heard that first scorecard and I’m like ‘oh, shit’ (laughs), the second scorecard came and it was 115-112, so I knew they must have given me a 10-8 round in the fifth, so I thought I had it after that.

IA: How did you celebrate that night and the days afterwards in London?

CT: I don’t think I went to sleep until 9am the next morning. We didn’t really do much, we just sat in my coach’s room and talked about all the trials and tribulations we’ve been through to get to this point and kind of soak it all in. We had a couple of drinks, but nothing crazy, you know. The next day we went to a sports bar and watched the Manchester United and Man City game, then watched the Vikings game, a bit of NFL football and just hung out and had some pints!

IA: You seem to have made a hell of a lot of British fans now. I’ve seen you interacting with a lot of them on twitter.

CT: I think I’ve got more British followers on twitter than American followers (laughs).

IA: Talk has now shifted to a potential rematch. What are your thoughts on a rematch with DeGale?

CT: I welcome it with open arms. There’s nothing that he’s going to be able to do, in my mind, that can change the result of the first fight. It wasn’t that I beat him – it was the way that I beat him. He was a beaten man. I didn’t knock him out with a lucky punch, I didn’t irk one out. I beat him up pretty bad and that’s going to be tough for him to come back from. More importantly, for me, it just gives me all the confidence in the world. There’s nothing he’s going to be able to do to change that. I’ll take that fight in a heartbeat. I’d like it to be back here in the States, but I wouldn’t mind coming back over to the UK to do it. I wouldn’t hesitate to go back over and fight him in London again.

IA: Does it feel like your life has genuinely changed since becoming champion?

CT: It still hasn’t set in yet, man! Maybe it will today when I’m with all my friends. Like I said on twitter, I got home and it was great to see my family, my girlfriend and my baby, my dog, and the next morning I’m out shovelling and picking up dog shit (laughs). I still haven’t even got my belt yet, maybe it’ll set in when I get that.

IA: You had one previous opportunity at a world title at middleweight against Daniel Jacobs (twelfth round TKO defeat) a couple of years ago. After that, did you ever think you’d find yourself in this position as a 168lbs world champion?

CT: I was hoping I would get another shot at a title. I was kind of okay with the fact that I had my shot, even though I came up short. It wasn’t going to discourage me if I never got another shot. When I got this call, I definitely wanted to make the most of it because I realise most fighters never get one shot, and even fewer get another shot. I approached this like it was my last shot, for sure. I wanted to leave it all in the ring and make the most of it, and I was able to.

IA: There’s a pinned tweet on your twitter feed regarding how this year you paid off your student loan through boxing, which was your main goal when turning professional. Six months on, surely that pales in comparison to what you’ve achieved now?

CT: Now I’ll be able to go back to graduate school and pay for it in cash if I decide to do that (laughs).