From Underdog to Champion: Caleb Truax Looks to Keep the Momentum Going

By Rich “Lite It Up” Lopez

An underdog is a fighter who is not expected to win or has little chance of winning. In boxing, the underdog can be a fighter that is not a top guy in the division or is thrown in as a tune up fighter. We love to root for the underdog fighter but most of the time they lose. Sometimes the underdog will win and pull the upset. James “Buster” Douglas stopping Mike Tyson comes to mind right away. Douglas was a 42-1 underdog in the fight and produced one of boxing’s biggest upsets of all time. How about the Cinderella Man Jim Braddock? Braddock overcame poverty as a result of the Great Depression and won the Heavyweight title from Max Bear.

It is also considered one of boxing’s biggest upsets of all time. One underdog fighter made boxing headlines in December of last year and pulled the biggest upset of 2017 in my opinion. That boxer is Caleb Truax.

Caleb “Golden” Truax, 29-3-2, 18 KO’s is a Midwest boxer from Osseo, Minnesota. As an amateur boxer, he only had a record of 21-8 and then soon became a professional. He had a great start in boxing, considering his limited experience as an amateur. For the first six years of his professional career, he was undefeated at 18-0-1. The draw was the only blemish on his record. He then got a shot against Jermain Taylor in 2012. Truax would lose a unanimous decision to Taylor but he gave a good account of himself in the fight. Truax would keep fighting and it took three years to get another shot at a top fighter. In 2015, he got a title shot against the WBA Middleweight Champion Daniel Jacobs.

Truax made the most of this opportunity and fought his heart off but once again came up short. Truax lost by stoppage for the first time, but it went to the 12th round when it happened. After a good effort, he got another significant fight in 2016 against Anthony Dirrell at Super Middleweight. However things did not go well for Truax as he was stopped in the 1st round. However, Truax still kept fighting.

Despite the setbacks in Caleb Truax’s career, he had the will to win and never quit. Then his biggest break came.

Truax traveled across the pond to London to face the IBF World Super Middleweight Champion James DeGale. DeGale was making the fourth defense of his title and was expected to beat Truax easily. However this would be the biggest night of Truax’s career. Truax outworked and outhustled the British champion over 12 rounds and won a majority decision. Even though the scorecards showed a close fight, it was not. This was a huge upset, and Truax even beat DeGale in his hometown. The underdog Truax finally became a champion after eight years as a professional. Hard work and determination pays off.

What is the lesson here? Never give up!

Truax will now be defending his IBF title in a rematch against James DeGale next weekend in Las Vegas. It will serve as the co-feature on the Erislandy Lara Vs Jarrett Hurd card. Truax will be looking to keep the momentum going and stay as the champion. He will be looking to prove the first fight was no fluke. Despite the outcome of the rematch, Caleb Truax showed what a true underdog can do, if you don’t give up and you always have the will to win.

[si-contact-form form=’2′]