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| Photo Courtesy of Showtime Boxing |
By Randy De La O
Austin Trout thoroughly and completely
dominated the fight last night against Frank La Porto, at the Cohen
Stadium in El Paso, Texas. The fight ended as Trout had hoped but the
fight went differently than expected. La Porto was a tough nut to
crack, especially when, after being dropped in the first round, he
seemed to be in survival mode. He did however, show a lot of heart
and courage but he was outclassed by a superior fighter in Trout.
My one fear, after watching Alfredo
Angulo punch himself out last week, after almost knocking out James
Kirkland, was that Trout would do the same thing. I needn't have
worried, Trout was in excellent shape. He looked like he could have
gone 15 rounds last night.
Trout's corner, led by Louie Burke, was
calm between the rounds as they kept their fighter focused on the job
at hand. Trout, who lives in nearby Las Cruces, New Mexico, had the
home court advantage last night. The pro-Trout crowd was on it's feet
the entire fight. The knockout never came but by the 6th round, La
Porto, a thoroughly beaten fighter, his will and heart gone, was
saved by merciful referee, Rafael Ramos. I don't believe La Porto
would have lasted another round. After the fight, La Porto's face
looked brutally beaten but it was expression that said it all.
More than anything else, I was
impressed by Austin after the fight, during the post fight interview.
When asked to rate his performance and his future, Trout's reply was,
“I felt like I did my thing. If anybody feels like I don’t
deserve this belt, please come and take it.”
Mostly though, I was impressed by the
way Trout conducted himself; confident and sure of himself but
without the usual braggadocio and trash talking so common in young
fighters and other athletes. Trainer Louie Burke and company have
done an outstanding job. Congratulations Champ!
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