Caleb Truax defeated Thomas Rittenbaugh on June 26th in California. For Truax, it was the first time fighting as a pro outside of Minnesota. Truax dominated, sweeping most rounds on all three judges cards. However, more details have been hard to come across on the web so MinnesotaBoxing.com contacted Truax to see how things went down. Here is what Truax had to say...

Leading up to the fight was very tedious because the CA commission is very strict in evaluating fighters, I spent more time in the Doc's office out there in 2 days than I have in the last 2 years getting an MRI, eye test, EKG, and physical. I was excited to see the weigh-in was scheduled for 4pm rather than the usual 6 back here but once I got there we waited forever and I didn't get on the scale until 7.

Before the fight I wasn't nervous at all until I started to enter the ring and thats when my nerves got to me a little. The fight obviously went well as I won 60-54 on 2 cards and 59-55 the other. My opponent was a pretty slick southpaw who moved well and had a reach advantage but after I hit him with a few shots he was hesitant to engage and wouldn't commit to his punches so it made it hard for me to counter. For the last 4 rounds it was pretty much me hunting him down and just out-boxing and outworking him. My trainer Tom Halstad and manager Ron Lyke stressed staying outside the front foot of a southpaw and keeping correct angles before the fight and it showed because I thought both my footwork and movement were on point. I also scored often working on the inside with short shots while Rittenbaugh was content to just holding on.

The whole trip can be chalked up as great experience for me! I was excited to see how things would go out of my comfort zone with none of my loyal fans going crazy and I think I passed the test. As far as whats next...I'll be on the seconds-out show Aug. 29th in Hinkley and look forward to a busy fall for me both in and out of state!