Caleb Truax, who returns to action tomorrow night in a PBC on FS1 main event against Peter Quillin, is a former super middleweight world titleholder and still a contender in the 168-pound division.
But Truax (30-4-2, 19 KO) says he almost never got to that point, as he nearly retired after losing a TKO-1 to Anthony Dirrell in 2016.
“After the Dirrell fight, I was thinking I was going to retire.”
— FOX Sports: PBC (@PBConFOX) April 9, 2019
Former Champion @GoldenCalebT opens up about his struggles outside of the ring. pic.twitter.com/hTooJMoVP7
On training in Minnesota
“I had the time to go to training camps in Las Vegas and California and see what it’s like, and it’s great to go there, especially when I’m younger and didn’t have any family or anything like that. It’s great to get out of state and do that, but I’m at a point now where I just don’t have any interest in doing it. It’s different, it’s cold and they make us a little tougher here in Minnesota. I wouldn’t want to train anywhere else.”
On his 2016 TKO-1 loss to Anthony Dirrell
“Coming out of the Danny Jacobs fight [in 2015], I just wanted to regroup. I took a little bit of time off, I took maybe a month off or something like that, I just wanted to regroup and go back to the drawing board.”
“My life has hectic leading up to the Anthony Dirrell fight. I had had a terrible experience with my girlfriend; when she was giving birth to my daughter, she had almost died in childbirth due to a brain bleed. That’s an injury where, when a fighter passes away, that’s what they pass away from, a brain bleed. I was taking care of my daughter solo.”
“The fight was in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and I remember when I get to the locker room, I’m just having, like, a nervous breakdown almost; I’m just freezing cold and shaking, and I’m sitting in the bathtub with no water, obviously, with my clothes on, and trying to breathe and beat a panic attack, 30 minutes before I was supposed to go fight.”
On thoughts of retirement after the loss to Dirrell
“After the Dirrell fight, I was thinking that I was going to retire. I remember talking to my coaches, talking to my promoters, talking to my family, and saying, ‘I’m gonna take a little time off, and if I ever feel like that again, there’s no way I’m gonna step into the ring again.’”
“I’m not sure what brought me back. I knew that it was a good opportunity to provide for my family and make a little bit of money to provide my daughter with a good life. I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on one certain thing that brought me back. Maybe it was just a storm of everything together bringing me back.”
On life these days, after winning a world title
“I’m really lucky to basically be a stay-at-home dad. I get to pick and choose when I want to work out, other than my boxing gym, that’s before every day, but I’m fortunate to have the schedule that I do and be able to see my daughter grow up.”
“I don’t get too wrapped up in ‘Cinderella Man’ and ‘Minnesota’s Rocky’ and all that stuff that I’ve heard. I’m just a dude that goes out there and gets to do what I love doing every single day. And I get to spend more time with my daughter than I would if I had a 9-to-5. So it is what it is, man. I’m just a guy who likes what he does.”
Quillin-Truax starts tomorrow night at 10 pm ET on FS1, with prelim fights beginning at 8 pm ET on FS2.