Austin Trout's biggest claim to fame in the ring is getting a win over Miguel Cotto back in 2012, but Trout's next fight could be his biggest yet.
In a recent conference call, Trout said beating WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo on June 9 would be bigger than when he defeated Cotto, the only Puerto Rican male boxer to win a world title in four different weight classes.
“I'm trying to rewrite my story with the career defining win,” Trout said. “Beating Jermell Charlo will be career defining. It will be bigger to me than beating Cotto in the Garden, straight up. I ain't looking towards the past. I'm always looking to the future. And the future, it really is going through Jermell.”
Although Trout had won the WBA title the year before fighting Cotto, Trout didn't become a major star in the sport until after beating Cotto. Since then, Trout has struggled to achieve the level of success as his major 2012 upset win. After beating Cotto, Trout lost his next two fights against Canelo Alvarez and Erislandy Lara. A four-fight win streak got him back to being a world title contender, but failed to capitalize on his next two chances.
Trout lost to Jermell's brother Jermall in 2016 and then got stopped by Jarrett Hurd last year in a Fightful "Fight of the Year" candidate. The 32-year-old Trout will be fighting in his fifth world title fight since the 2012 fight against Cotto.
The fight between Jermell and Trout will be the co-main event bout of the June 9 Showtime Championship Boxing card headlined by Leo Santa Cruz vs. Abner Mares for the WBA featherweight title.
