By Ian S Palmer
Former IBF Middleweight Champion Caleb Truax will be taking on fellow American and former WBO Middleweight Champ Peter Quillin in Minneapolis, Minnesota this Saturday, April 13th. The super middleweight bout can be seen live in North America on Fox and Fox Deportes. Truax last fought in August when he stopped Fabiano Soares in the third round. Quillin was last in action in August as well when he beat J’Leon Love via a 10-round unanimous decision. It’s unclear if this bout is 10 or 12 rounds and it’s being billed as an IBF eliminator.
The 35-year-old Truax of Osseo, Minnesota beat James DeGale in December of 2017 and took the Briton’s IBF Super Middleweight crown. He then lost the rematch by a close unanimous decision four months later. Truax stands six-feet tall and possesses a 73-inch reach. He has a record of 30-4-2 with 19 Kos. He also lost a world title bid to Daniel Jacobs in 2015 when he was stopped in the 12th round. Truax’s other defeats were also to former world champions as he dropped a unanimous 10-round decision to Jermain Taylor in 2012 and was stopped in the first round by Anthony Dirrell in April, 2016.
Truax has fought 230 rounds since turning pro in 2007 and has a current knockout ratio of 53 per cent. His draws came against Ossie Duran in 2014 and Phil Williams in 2011. He’s fought and defeated a few other good pros in Antwun Echols, Matt Vanda, Don George and Derek Ennis. Truax has the ability to give anybody a tough time of it as he proved in against DeGale, Taylor and Jacob, especially if they’re not at the top of the game. He’s been stopped twice, but doesn’t really have a weak chin.
Truax’s competitive in bouts against Grade A boxers, but up until beating DeGale he typically fell just short.
The 35-year-old Quillin returned to the ring last year after a two-year absence and beat Dashon Johnson by an eight-round unanimous decision in September before taking on Love. The former champ was born in Chicago, but fights out of Brooklyn and enters the contest with an impressive record of 34-1-1 along with 23 Kos. His lone loss was a first-round stoppage at the hands of Danny Jacobs in a shot at Jacobs’ WBA Middleweight Title in December of 2015. Quillin is 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 71.5-inch wingspan which gives him an inch edge in height on Truax, but a 1.4-inch reach disadvantage.
Quillin has fought 184 rounds since turning pro in 2005. He beat Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam by unanimous decision in 2012 to win the WBO Middleweight Title in October, 2012 and dropped him six times along the way. He defended the crown three times against Fernando Guerrero, Gabriel Rosado and Lukas Konecny before vacating the belt in September, 2014. He’s also beaten Jesse Brinkley, Winky Wright, Craig McEwan, Fernando Zuniga, Antwun Echols and Troy Lowry while his 12-round draw came against Ireland’s Andy Lee back in April of 2015.
He was decked for the first time in his career against Lee, but got back up and showed he has a lot of heart, but couldn’t handle Jacobs’ first-round onslaught. Quillin has good power of his own with a current knockout ratio of 66 per cent. He’s been involved in several exciting fights and has shown he has enough power to drop just about anyone. However, he’s not hard to find in the ring and this can be troublesome when you own a questionable chin. Quillin isn’t the most mobile guy in the ring and usually adopts a more flat-footed stance while throwing his power shots.
Prediction…
This is a pretty even matchup in age, size and experience. They’re both solid pros and former world champions with Quillin having a bit more power, but perhaps a slightly less dependable chin. This should be a close, competitive fight and a draw wouldn’t be a surprise. If forced to a pick a winner I’d go with Quillin.
