Austin Trout vs Delvin Rodriguez Preview June 2
Twenty-six-year-old Austin Trout will be attempting to keep his undefeated streak alive when he defends his WBA Junior Middleweight Championship against Delvin Rodriguez at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on June 2. Trout, who has a record of 24-0 with 14 KOs, will have his hands full with the volume punching of Rodriguez (26-5-3 14 KOs).
Even though the southpaw Trout is the champion it’ll actually be a step up in class for him since he hasn’t really fought any world-class fighters in his career as of yet. He captured the vacant title by unanimous decision against Rigoberto Alvarez in February of 2011 and has defended it twice so far, against Frank LoPorto and David Lopez.
The 32-year-old Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic is a genuine top-10 contender, but has won just two of his last six fights, losing three and drawing the other. However, if Trout is to have any hope of landing a big-money fight against somebody such as Saul Alvarez or Miguel Cotto he’s going to have to beat Rodriguez decisively.
Rodriguez comes to fight each time out and he’s a hard guy to put away. He’s been stopped just once in his career, which was an eight-round TKO against Jesse Feliciano back in 2007. Trout said he’s well aware of the threat Rodriguez poses and has trained as hard as possible to make sure he’s prepared for 12 hard rounds if needed.
Rodriguez is an excellent counterpuncher who doesn’t mind going toe-to-toe if he has two. He slugged it out with Pawel Wolak last July in the fight of the year, which ended in a 10-round draw, and then beat him by a unanimous decision five months later in the rematch. However, look for Rodriguez to take the fight to Trout once the bell rings and to keep moving forward.
Trout, who hails from New Mexico, hasn’t really caught on with the boxing public yet since he hasn’t really been tested by an elite fighter. His style isn’t the most exciting, but if Rodriguez forces him to slug it out we could finally see what the champion’s made of. But while Rodriguez is known to throw a high quantity of punches, he doesn’t really possess the power to stop Trout unless he catches him flush with accurate combinations.
Prediction
Trout isn’t known as a power puncher either and there’s a good chance this fight will go the 12-round distance. Trout can’t really afford a loss since he might have a hard time getting a title shot against one of the division’s other champions. If he’s smart, he’ll have a rematch clause in the contract just in case. Look for this one to go all the way with Trout keeping his belt by a decision.
Odds
The current odds of a Trout victory listed at -300 while a Rodriguez win is +225 and a draw is +3000. They are one of the only online sportsbooks that are currently offering odds on this fight. Check out our other boxing predictions for the weekend.
Written by: Ian Palmer
Austin Trout betting • Delvin Rodriguez betting