Caleb Truax: James DeGale is in trouble

In an interview with Bad Left Hook, Caleb Truax stated that Britain’s James DeGale is “in trouble” as the pair prepare to lock horns for a second time on Saturday in Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

Truax, 34, stunned the boxing world by outpointing heavy favourite James DeGale on home turf in London’s Copper Box Arena, relieving the Brit of his IBF super middleweight title in the process.

But the Minnesota-born puncher maintains he’s still hungry, despite achieving his dream of becoming world champion.

“I’m still hungry. I love the sport of boxing,” Truax said. “I’m an ultra competitive person. I earned the belt, now I have to defend it,” he continued.

“I’m more motivated this time out than I was last time. Last time I wanted to go win the title, win the fight and provide for my family.

“People still think I’m an underdog. I think I’m a 6-1 underdog with some sports outlets, people think winning the title was a fluke, that he wasn’t at his best and was injured blah blah blah.

“So, I’m more motivated this time around to prove those people wrong and to prove the critics wrong.

“He’s in trouble,” he added.

Truax started boxing to pay off tuition fees, having graduated from the University of Minnesota with a major in Sociology and minors in African American studies and Political Science, but has remained he underdog throughout his boxing career.

“When you’re a favourite you can become more complacent and sit back,” Truax explained.

“If you’re an underdog you’re hungry, and you want to prove people wrong. I’ve never really been too big of a favourite in my biggest fights, so being the underdog motivates me,” he added.

And Truax, nicknamed “golden”, cites a 12th round knockout loss to former WBA middleweight world titleholder Daniel Jacobs in 2015 as a stark learning curve.

“I learned a lot from the Danny Jacobs fight,” he said “He’s a great fighter and he’s gone on to win a lot of fights since. I actually thought he won the GGG fight.”

“He’s got really good speed and power, anytime you’re in the ring with a guy like that you learn a lot.

“You learn more from your losses than you do your wins.”