Caleb Truax Dealt The Stiffest Blow Of His Career So Far

By Ray Kilgore: Last Friday was supposed to be special” for 28-year-old Caleb Truax because not only was he was set to face 27-year-old Brandon Gonzales at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV, but the fight would have ended Truax’s eight-month nightmare of inactivity as well.

It got even better for Truax when the match-up was scheduled to be televised on Showtime’s Shobox: The New Generation as the co-feature on a program which saw World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight champion Rico Ramos (20-0, 11 KOs), against WBA interim titleholder and two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux (8-0, 6 KOs).

But a few days before it was announced that Gonzales had injured his leg during training, which left team Truax reeling. Goossen-Tutor, who was promoting the fight and who is also Gonzales’s promoter, offered Showtime a replacement opponent for Truax in Walter Wright, 14-3, (7 KOs). Team Truax sat on pins and needles waiting for the verdict, but their wait was short-lived: Showtime countered with a flat-out, no.

The rumor was that “2 Guns,” Wright was too inactive, and the goal of ShoBox is to showcase an up and coming “prospect,” not a guy with rusty bullets who hadn’t fought since 2010, and who went 3-2 in his last five outings as Wright did.

Showtime’s stance put an end to what Truax, who goes by the ring alias “Golden,” wanted to be the start of his yellow brick road, leading down a path to bigger money and more exposure.

Had Truax defeated Gonzales, it would have not only marked his biggest accomplishment as a boxer since turning professional in 2007; a victory would have given him bragging rights on many levels. Truax could have been the first Minnesota boxer to end Goossen-Tutor Promotions’ 0-5 streak against Minnesota fighters— Chris Arreola won a stoppage over Joey Abell and Raphael Butler, Andre Ward and Paul Williams defeated Andy Kolle, and Shawn Estrada defeated Jon Schmidt. Truax could have also moved one step closer to solidifying his belief that he’s the best boxer in Minnesota.

Heading into the fight, Truax was at something of a disadvantage from a public viewpoint because many insiders have voiced their opinions that Minnesota fighters cannot perform well outside of their backyards. Truax had long argued that his rise on the local level was due in part to hard work and dedication--something he felt confident would come out during the fight.

A few days before Truax left for Las Vegas, Secondsout.com visited him at the Anoka Coon Rapids Gym. Not only was the fighter in a jovial mood, but both he and his team oozed confidence. “I want to be impressive,” Truax told Secondsout.com before the fight. “I don’t care if it’s a knockout or not. I am going to get the win. I’ve stayed in shape [during his time away from the gym], and for the past five weeks, I took training to the next level. It’s going to be a spectacular performance.”

His trainer, 37-year-old Tom Halstad, echoed this sentiment. “Week by week, he’s showing the hunger in his eyes,” said Halstad. “It’s been five weeks [at the time of this interview] and he’s ready to go.” And so, too, was Halstad, after a one-two combo followed by a hard right from his fighter. “Now that’s how you throw that sh-t,” an excited Halstad said, giving praise to the boxer for following through on instructions. “Right down the middle…keeping working the body like that, and by round seven he’ll be done.”

Ron Lyke, owner of Anoka Coon Rapids gym and Truax’s manager, pointed to his head and told Secondsout.com, “Boxing is all about up here. Mentally you have to be ready for a fight, and Caleb is ready and is in excellent shape for [Gonzales].”

Truax was presented with an opportunity that only a handful of Minnesota boxers get; it’s quite common for a Minnesota fighter to accept a bout where he has either little time to fully prepare, or is up against a “prospect,” who has fought better competition and therefore has considerably more experience.

While Goossen-Tutor and Gonzales never publicly admitted this, it’s not unrealistic to guess that they saw Truax as being a tad bit above of just being an “opponent.” But from a theoretical viewpoint, Truax was much more than just a second-tier guy.

Truax wasn’t the only one who had much to gain in the fight. Halstad would have been afforded the opportunity to validate his skills as a trainer. And it’s true that Gonzales would have entered the fight under a much more experienced trainer in Virgil Hunter; Hunter not only helped train Andre Ward on his way to an Olympic Gold Medal, but Hunter also helped to prepare Ward to claim the Super-six trophy and unify the world championship belts by taking a convincing decision over Carl Froch last month.

But had Halstad assisted Truax with providing Gonzales with his only defeat, psychologically such an accomplishment might have taken Halstad to new levels. Halstad started training Truax under tough circumstances. Truax never planned to box professionally until his amateur career was cut short when it was discovered that he had taken part in a “Tough-Man” contest before his first amateur fight, a violation of their rules.

 And Halstad didn’t come from a background of fighters, growing up in Champlin, Minnesota. For the most part, Halstad taught himself to box, and he eventually graduated to training amateur boxers before turning his attention to local professionals. His three fighters--Jeremy McLaurin, Charles Meier and Truax--have combined records of 32 wins, against four defeats, two draws and 17 Kos which showed that Halstad had the ability to do the necessary work to get his fighters ready at this level.

“[Halstad] is a bad-ass white boy,” said Meier. “What I like is that he’s methodical and knows how to talk to me. I’ve had some trainers try to tell me things, and I say: ‘I don’t understand you. What are you telling me!?’ With Tom, that’s not the case.”

A Truax victory was Halstad’s opportunity to back up his convictions about what it took to be a good fighter and trainer. “You gotta be mentally focused; if you’re not, you shouldn’t be in there,” he told Minnesotaboxing.com last year. “I tell my fighters: ‘I don’t want to see you laying on the canvas with your eyes rolling in the back of your head because you did something stupid.’” Truax didn’t need to worry about that coming to pass, and he had no plan to make a date with such a scenario in the Gonzales fight. 

One of the hallmarks of Truax’s style going into the Gonzales fight was that he has worked diligently at building a reputation not only as a smart boxer, but a caring one outside the ring. Truax, a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Political Science, asked every fan to bring an nonperishable canned good (to help aid the Minnesota victims of last May’s tornado) the night he won a split decision over Andy Kolle. And what better way could he have let the outside world know this than with a defeat over Gonzales, which would have promoted a little more media attention (and an introduction to the backdrop of his life story) beyond the local scene.  

And while both Truax and Gonzales are now faced with the setback of missed paydays, and the chance to keep their undefeated record intact, Gonzales still comes out the better of the two for now; Gonzales will continue to be promoted by Goossen-Tutor, who undoubtedly has the financial backing to provide the fighter, who resides in Sacramento, California, with more chances for TV exposure.

For Truax, he is now in the position of proving that he can regroup and make wise decisions. Late last year, in an interview with Minnesotaboxing.com, Truax talked about going “stir crazy,” after not having fought in some time. He also expressed concerns about the lack of opponents in his weight division locally.

Truax will have to continue to show the same discipline that earned him a record of 18-0-1, (10 KOs). He can’t fall into the trap that many Minnesota boxers have found themselves in, by jumping into fights only for TV exposure or agreeing to ones he’s not ready for—given that the Gonzales fight might not be totally dead once the 15-0-1, (10 KOs) Gonzales heals.

Many of Truax’s detractors say that he also has to take some responsibility. He was rumored to have turned down a fight against local rival Matt Vanda last year, because a local promoter would not agree to have Truax’s stablemate, heavyweight Joey Abell, on the same card. 

Truax’s naysayers also point out his unwilling to break ties with his local promoter, Tony Grygelko of Seconds Out Promotions. Grygelko, a retired professional boxer, had been known for putting on decent local cards which usually included Truax has the headliner.

But in May of last year, Grygelko’s reputation came under fire when team Kolle filed a complaint against him, citing Grygelko’s failure to pay part of the boxer’s purse (although this is rumored to have been taken care of). The Minnesota boxing commission suspended Grygelko indefinitely, which resulted, among other things, in Truax not fighting in months.

If Gonzales, or any other, fight doesn’t materialize right away for Truax, there’s still the possibility of his fighting Vanda, 33, although both camps would have to push a little harder to sell tickets since Vanda (44-14, 24 KOs), is coming off of a fifth-round TKO defeat to Marco Antonio Rubio last month.

Truax could also set up a rematch against Kolle (since many thought he lost), although that might prove somewhat difficult for two reasons. First, team Kolle (24-3 18 Kos), were responsible for the compliant against Grygelko for his failure to meet their payment deadline, one of the main reasons Grygelko was suspended.

And second, team Kolle complained bitterly about what they felt were repeated fouls by Truax during the fight. Among other issues, they expressed that their concerns were not addressed by referee Mark Nelson, who officiated the bout, and who is the only international referee in Minnesota.

To a certain extent, Truax has felt that team Kolle has tried to distract attention from his opinion that the judges gave him the notch fair and square. And to be fair, team Kolle has since softened their outcries, and have publicly given Truax much more credit (not by saying he won), although this observer questions if some of it is a ploy to entice Truax into the ring again.

The story goes that Truax turned down job offers (for a lower-paying job with flexible hours), where he could have earned a living in his field of study, to focus on boxing. Had Truax stepped through the ropes on Friday against Gonzales and won, he would have taken a big step forward toward his goal of convincing many locals, and outsiders, that he was justified in feeling that he was Minnesota’s boxing franchise and a “prospect” on a higher level.

But once again Truax was left inactive and ruminating about what could have been, while trying to come to grips with why the fight fell apart at the worst possible time. Truax passed up a night on the town on New Year’s Eve for the sweat stains and smell of the boxing gym, courtesy of Gonzales. And last week he boarded an early flight as he headed back to Minnesota, courtesy of Gonzales again.

Truax has lived in Minnesota all of his life, and he knows something about the bone-chilling cold winters; in the end, maybe losing the opportunity for the Gonzales fight (for now), won’t be that difficult; after all, if he can survive Minnesota’s rattling winters, he should be able to overcome what is, at times, one of the coldest sports of all: boxing.

January 16, 2012