Minnesota Boxing News: Caleb Truax

TRUAX FACES OPPONENT CRISIS
October 18th, 2011
By Ray Kilgore

Caleb Truax is in a little trouble. After his win over Andy Kolle this past summer in a highly anticipated fight, the 27-year-oldfinds himself without a local big-named boxer to generate a buzz and keep his career moving since getting national fights are not easy.

His chief trainer, Tom Halstad, might relocate to Las Vegas next year and has said he will try and convince the undefeated Truax, 18-0-1, 10 KOs, to consider the same; a scenario Truax says he is not willing to rule out. “At this point I don’t know,” Truax said. “Vegas is the Mecca of boxing, and if a person is serious about their career, right now that’s the place.” Truax did, however, say. “I am a Minnesota boy and it would be difficult to leave.”

Leading up to the fight against Kolle (23-2, 17 KOs), Truax trained in Vegas for several weeks, a decision that proved invaluable when he turned in one of his best performances since turning professional in 2007. Truax, a graduate of the U, took a split decision over Kolle to win the Middleweight State Championship.

Outside of his strong supporters, few gave Truax much of a chance to defeat the 29-year-old Kolle. Kolle’s previous defeats were to two top-notch current and former world champions; and although he had not been that active before the Truax fight, when Kolle showed up, he typically got the job done.

Going into the fight, Kolle, surprisingly agreed to most of the terms put forth by Truax and Truax’s promoter, Tony Grygelko. The psychological edge, it seemed, was with Traux. However, it was Kolle who sent the stronger message by moving up in weight and taking the fight in what was considered Traux’s backyard, in St. Paul.

But since the victory, Truax has been anything but celebratory. “I am going stir crazy,” he said. “It’s been months now since I had a fight!” Truax spent time camping in the Boundary Waters and nursing a bruised Achilles tendon-pain that limited his ability to run for three weeks afterwards.

If Truax were to fight soon, one hurdle he faces is the possibility of being at the mercy of Grygelko's ability to promote another fight. Gryegelko, who promoted the Truax/Kolle fight, came under fire shortly after the fight, when team Kolle revealed that Grygelko had not paid the boxer half of his purse. MyFox.com reported that team Kolle set a date for Grygelko to produce the check, but they said Grygelko failed to deliver in time. Team Kolle filed a complaint with the Minnesota Boxing Commission, and this, along with another reported issue, forced the commission to place Grygelko on suspension, where he remains as of the publishing of this article.

Truax has maintained a loyalty to Grygelko despite his current situation, and said he hopes Grygelko can help him secure a fight in November. Just in case that happens, Traux has increased his training and even worked out on the Sunday before Labor Day.

When Truax finally does get into the ring, his opponent will not be Kolle. Since the fight, team Kolle has publicly expressed concerns about what they feel were dirty tactics used by Truax to get the win, an assertion that has prompted the normally polished Truax to respond in anger.

“That’s ridiculous,” he said. “I remember one low blow where I hit him and it went low because he moved into the shot… He was warned more than I was for fouls. They are looking for an easy way out by trying to say I did something wrong.” Truax added, “If there were low blows, Mark Nelson [who officiated the fight] is one of the best referees in the county…He would have caught them.”

Truax maintains his refusal to grant Kolle a rematch has nothing to do with a tit-for-tat situation-although he must be upset that team Kolle filed the complaint against his promoter, and that they have attempted to take some of the luster off his win by citing fouls and basis referring in his favor; but according to Truax, revenge has little to do with why a rematch has not been discussed; Truax said the fight is not taking place for obvious reasons.

“For me it doesn’t make sense to fight Kolle right now. Maybe down the line I will. I thoroughly beat him in every aspect of the fight…. I thought I did a good job of controlling the tempo, and he maybe landed one or two good punches in the entire fight. Had I turned up the pressure I could have knocked him out.”

But if a local fight were to happen, he said Matt Vanda is his ideal match. Truax was originally set to face Vanda in May, before Vanda was suspended for a failed post fight drug test where marijuana was found in his system. Still, Truax has been grateful for what the veteran has shown him in the past.

“Matt taught me a lot when we trained at the same gym,” Truax said. “Seeing how…he tackled different issues…helped me more than he knows he helped. If he does fight again, I hope we can get into the ring and do the damn thing,” he said. “He is going to come to whip me and I am going to come to whip him and look to be the first guy to knock him out.”

Whether or not the Vanda fight happens, Truax said he is looking at the future. “I feel like there is no one here [in Minnesota] that I can fight. So I am trying to take this to the next level and do better things.”

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