Caleb Truax: I won’t make the same mistakes as James DeGale

In an interview with Bad Left Hook, Caleb Truax insisted he “won’t make the same mistakes as James DeGale” as the he prepares to defend his IBF super-middleweight title in Las Vegas this Saturday.

Minnesota-born Truax caused a huge upset in December by outpointing odds-on favourite DeGale on his home turf at London’s Copper Box Arena, relieving the Brit of the IBF strap he had held since 2015.

DeGale, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist, blamed an injured right shoulder and lack of fitness for the loss, but has since admitted to underestimating his opponent.

“I don’t want to make the same mistakes the DeGale made in the first fight,” Truax explained. “I won’t look past my opponent, and I wont be trying to figure out who is next. I’m 100% focused on April 7th and James DeGale. I don’t want to think about the future until I’ve beaten him for a second time,” he continued.

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.

When asked on how he planned to cope with a reportedly resurgent DeGale, the 34-year-old orthodox puncher responded in typically methodical style.

“I fully expect him to use his jab, just as we expected him to use his jab the last time out. So we’ll be ready for whatever new wrinkles he throws into his game plan,” Truax said. “We’ve had almost four months to prepare for this fight, my coach said before Christmas and said ‘these are the things DeGale can do to be better’ and ‘these are the things you need to do to be better’ — we’ve been working on stuff that we think he might change up.

“I’ll be ready for anything he throws.”