Austin Trout Talks 2015, Anthony Mundine and More

By Srithar Visuasam - 12/25/2014 - Comments

Fresh off his stoppage victory over Luis Grajeda almost a fortnight ago, former WBA junior middleweight champion Austin ‘No Doubt’ Trout (28-2, 15 KOs) is keen to get back in the world title picture in the new year.

Speaking to Australian radio station SEN1116 on Monday, Trout is keen to rematch either or both of the two fighters who delivered his first career losses in 2013, Saul Alvarez and Erislandy Lara. He states “we want to climb and go forward. I’m trying to get to the level I was back in 2013 but except we are going to erase those losses and take wins…We’re trying to get back to (the) world title and we’re trying to get back to the big names.”

In assessing his victory over Grajeda where Trout registered his first stoppage victory since 2011, Trout credits his new trainer, Washington DC’s Barry Hunter with the improvement of his ability to land power shots. “We’ve been working on becoming more comfortable going forward instead of always fighting backwards…I didn’t have that knockout punch because I never was planting my feet, I was always moving and punching. So we’re also working on keeping our feet planted and turning into the shot so I can bring out the full potential of my power.”

Recently crowned WBC silver junior middleweight champion Australian Anthony Mundine has for the past few years been talked about as a potential opponent for Trout. In 2012, a purse bid was held for a Trout-Mundine bout when Mundine was the WBA interim junior middleweight champion, mandatory to Trout.

Why the fight didn’t eventuate, according to Austin “we got so far to go to the purse bid. Now mind you that we didn’t get into any negotiations because the purse bid was supposed to happen first. I get a call the next morning to say that Mundine’s promoter never showed up. Then I’m reading the web and Mundine’s simply saying that we tried to get his TV money and we were trying to ask for too much, this, that and the third. That was not the situation at all.”

Talking at length on Mundine, Trout pays respect to Mundine’s technical ability and prior achievements at super middleweight and middleweight. However he does call Mundine’s recent split decision win over Sergey Rabchenko to claim the WBC silver junior middleweight title a “gift” victory. “His last fight was a gift, it was a miracle he won that fight in my opinion.”

As for how he would fare against the Aussie? Trout states “he’s a fighter than can possibly be in my radar and I don’t feel like he has got enough tools or tricks in his bag to beat me, on a bad day.”

Listen here to the full interview

Srithar Visuasam is co-host of ‘Radio Ringside’ broadcast on SEN1116 (www.sen.com.au) each Monday night in Melbourne, Australia.