Trout to fight Daniel Dawson on "Friday Night Fights" season finale

After a career best victory over Miguel Cotto in December 2012, Austin Trout (26-2 14 knockouts) entered 2013 with an undefeated record, a head of steam, and a shot at Canelo Alvarez. Things didn't go as Trout planned. After losing a close fight to Canelo Alvarez in April, Trout was thoroughly outboxed and dropped a wide decision to Erislandy Lara in December. Who would've predicted that by the middle of 2014, Cotto would be the fighter on the rise, and Trout would be the fighter staging a comeback?

Trout, who hasn't been inside the ring since losing to Lara, will make his return on August 22 against Australian fighter Daniel Dawson. The bout will take place in Southern California and will be televised live on the season finale of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights". According to ESPN's Dan Rafael, the fight, which is currently slated to be a 10-rounder, is "likely" to end up being sanctioned as a 12-round world title elimination bout.

Whether or not it's a title eliminator bout, Trout is looking forward to putting 2013 behind him.

"I had one hell of a year in 2013. Canelo started it. It was a great fight, a great experience. It was a close fight, but it was my first loss and I took it hard.

"And then I got married almost right after that [May 26]. The marriage was the best part of my year, but my grandmother died right after the ceremony, and I was very close with my grandmother. It was very tough."

"Hopefully, it will be the eliminator, but I won't put too much worry on it," Trout said. "My motivation is to show that I'm back and that I haven't gone anywhere. I had a bad year and let's leave it at that -- a bad year."

Daniel Dawson (40-3-1, 26 KOs), is 36 years old and has never faced anybody on Canelo or Lara's level. The best opponent on his ledger is Sergey Dzinziruk, who knocked Dawson out in 2010. Dawson hasn't lost a fight since 2010. He also hasn't fought outside of Australia during that time.