In boxing, every fighter
dreams of being part of a big-time pay-per view event for the world championship
of his weight division. For junior middleweight titlist Austin Trout, he’s just
looking to get his name out there. On November 11th, Trout, 23-0
(13), will make his “ShoBox” debut against Frank LoPorto, 15-4-2 (7), to cap
off a successful 2011. However, it’s 2012 where Trout will aim to make his mark
in the junior middleweight division and the sport of boxing.
Trout trained in New Mexico to
prepare for his fight against LoPorto, a bout seen mostly as a tune-up to cap off
Trout’s breakout year. This year, he captured the “regular” WBA title against Rigoberto
Alvarez, the younger brother of Saul Alvarez. Trout caught the eyes of many
boxing insiders with the victory and followed it up an even better win over
well respected journeyman David Lopez.
It was quite a contrast
compared to his previous year, an inactive one for Trout.
“In 2010, I was mainly
inactive due to being a mandatory position and not being able to get the
fight,” Trout said. “It was mainly politics that kept me out for the whole year
and as frustrating as it was, it has paid off.”
Now with his year near its
end, Trout looks forward to advancing his career. With Miguel Cotto fighting
Antonio Margarito on December 3rd, the 26-year-old would love to
square off against the winner of that fight. While Trout sees Margarito as the
winner of the rematch, he hopes Cotto pulls off the win.
“I would like to take that
‘super’ championship, so they stop calling mine ‘regular,’” he said. “Cotto
still presses and I think he’s going to do more boxing but he can’t outbox me.
He might try to bait me out but he won’t be able to do that either. I’d beat
him to it.”
The junior middleweight
division is wide open and Trout realizes that. In addition to Cotto and
Margarito, the division is filled with prospects, longtime veterans and
arguably the division’s biggest attraction In Saul Alvarez. There are plenty of
opponents for “No Doubt” to make his mark in boxing. Regardless, Trout realizes
there is a depth of opportunities that lay ahead of him in 2012 and beyond.
“I’m going to work hard to
deserve to be put on any network and the top of lists as best boxer. I won’t
stop until everybody checks me off as one of the greatest. I’m going to
showcase that November 11 and any other time I fight.”
