Swimming upstream
Austin Trout leaps into deep water for long-awaited title fight

Story and photos by Chris Cozzone

For someone who will be fighting rust, a hostile hometown, uncooperative promoters, a lunatic sanctioning body, elevation and nearly a year-and-a-half of delays, Feb. 5 in Guadalajara, Mexico, Austin “No Doubt” Trout shows remarkable composure going into his first world title fight.

His opponent, WBA Light Middleweight Champion Rigoberto “Espanol” Alvarez, brother to acclaimed prodigy Saul “El Canelo,” just may be the least of his concerns, and when he finally steps into the ring to hear the first round bell, it may be with a sigh of relief.

“’It’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen,’ I try to tell myself,” says Trout. He’s pretty sure that now, just one week away from the fight, he actually believes it.

Since October 2009, Trout has been telling himself the same thing.

Finally, though, a real fight has apparently been set, though every day poses yet another possibility for a change in venue, a new date – who knows what else.

It’s been an odd journey, to contention and from contention to a title shot – and not one that exactly flatters the sport.

After turning pro in 2005, the former 2004 U.S. National champion and Olympic alternate fought the usual stiffs and journeyman over the next several years before facing a challenge. In 2008, on a bout that aired on ESPN2, Trout decisioned previously-unbeaten Byron Tyson. Another handful of journeyman followed, before Trout took a risk on the road to fight WBA top ten-rated Nilson Julio Tapia in his hometown of Panama City, Panama. Admittingly his toughest fight, Trout walked away with a well-earned majority decision.

With the single win, Trout cracked the WBA’s top ten, at No. 7. After a 12-round decision over journeyman Taronze Washington, Trout was hiked up the ladder to No. 2, then No. 1.

The waiting game began.

At first, Trout was the mandatory for interim champion Nobuhiro Ishida, who held off leaping into the ring against his No. 1 mandatory, since the real belt, held by Yuri Foreman, was scheduled for a defense against Miguel Cotto in June 2010.

Long story short: Cotto won the real belt, Interim Champ Ishida became his mandatory – that is, until, in their infinite wisdom to further dilute belts at every opportunity, the WBA elevated Cotto to “super” status (he’ll defend the “super strap” against Ricardo Mayorga in March), opening up the “regular” 154-pound strap to the highest bidder. Still ducking Trout for bigger game, Ishida, knowing a fight against Cotto wasn’t exactly a fight HBO was going to care about, had his opportunity to trade in his interim belt for the regular version on Oct. 9, against Alvarez.

Another long story short: Alvarez won the regular belt with a split verdict, Ishida was dropped to No. 3 and the negotiations for a mandatory defense against Trout began.

By this time, Trout, 21-0, 13 KOs, had been inactive a year and prohibited from even fighting a tune-up less he risk losing his No. 1 status. In the interim (as in time, not belt), Trout signed with Shelly Finkel and Empire – not that it did much good.

Trout waited some more, turning down step-aside money for Alvarez to fight someone more lucrative. When they saw Trout wasn’t going away, a date and location was given … then taken away … then re-given. Over the course of several weeks, a date of Jan. 29 was announced, then changed to Feb. 5. Changing as often as the date was the venue, which conveniently, and ultimately, became Alvarez’s hometown of Guadalajara – the last place Trout’s camp wanted to fight in.

But finally, Trout’s wait is over. He thinks.

“I’m not gonna lie, there were times I felt like quitting,” Trout says, about his 15-month layoff. “I considered it. ‘What the hell?’ I’d think. What is the point of being a mandatory if you never get to fight?

“It’s just been a very disappointing year. I’d have a fight – then didn’t. Off and on, off and on . .. there was a lot of political nonsense going on.”

On paper, Trout may appear to be the rustiest fighter since George Foreman stepped into the ring a full decade after his first retirement. But Trout hasn’t been sitting around twiddling his thumbs. The crafty southpaw found plenty of work in the camps of Kelly Pavlik, Sergio Martinez and Antonio Margarito.

“The camps definitely kept me sharp,” says Trout.

Actually, they did more than that – they provided the conviction Trout might’ve been lacking from fighting less than name fighters in his 21 bouts.

“It really helped my confidence. Even though I haven’t fought in so long, being in those camps helped me grow as a fighter. They served as reminders that I’m supposed to be in there with the top guys – that I can be in there.

“And I’ve definitely held my own with them. I don’t think I’ve lost a single round.”

Striking rust off his checklist, Trout says he’s effectively dealt with every obstacle hurled against him.

Like fighting in someone else’s hometown.

“When I fought Tapia in Panama, I got used to fighting someone in their hometown – and beating them,” says Trout. “I’m not worried about a hostile crowd. I just stay to myself and commit to being a good representative of the USA. God’s going to be with me wherever I fight and if I’m meant to be champion, that’s what’s going to happen.

“The crowd booing, and all that? It never really bothered me. Especially when, midway through the fight, the boos are silenced. Or they turn to cheers. I’m going to win them over in Guadalajara.”

Elevation?

“No worries there, either,” says Trout. “I knew it’d be an issue even before the latest change in location, and have been running in the mountains.”

For the past two weeks, Trout has been training in Ruidoso, elevation 5,500 feet – same as Guadalajara.

One concern he hopes his promoter has taken care of, is securing so-called “neutral” officials. Trout also says he expects the size of the ring to be the absolute minimum – regulation 18 feet – which is to Alvarez’s advantage.

But even Alvarez doesn’t keep Trout up at night, after a hard day training.

“I know he’s a strong guy, a tough dude who can take a punch,” says Trout. “But he’s really pissed me off the last couple of months, and he’ll be punished for it.

“He says he’ll put constant pressure on me. That’s fine. He can do what he wants, but we’re going to be throwing three or four different styles at him. I’ll confuse the heck out of him.

“After I beat Rigoberto, you can tell his brother, Saul, that he’s next – if he’s got the gall to accept the challenge.”

Should Trout win, fighting the younger Alvarez might not happen for a while. There is already talk of Erislandy Lara fighting the winner – and none other than Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has slid into the No. 2 spot at the WBA’s light middleweight rankings.

Plus, of course, winning the WBA’s “regular” 154-pound belt, technically, anyway, would make Trout the mandatory challenger for the winner of Cotto-Mayorga.

On the other hand, as Trout has already learned from the last 15 months, that there is no guarantee, WBA rules or not – though you can probably bet on a whole lot of waiting.

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