Austin Trout has found a home for himself in bare-knuckle boxing, where his defeat to Canelo Alvarez back in 2013 now seems a distant memory.
In truth, the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship does, at least from the perspective of most die-hard boxing fans, appear to take something away from the sweet science of pugilism.
Instead, the sport’s flagship promotion – co-owned by former UFC champion Conor McGregor – glorifies the brutality of bare-knuckle fighting, putting it on a pedestal for all to behold.
But this, after all, is why a large percentage of combat sports fans spend their hard-earned money on tickets and pay-per-view fees.
It is, in fact, that gladiatorial spectacle – with two combatants laying down their gauntlets before colliding for our entertainment – which BKFC feeds and, ultimately, thrives off of.
And so, with Trout now reigning supreme over the rapidly growing sport’s welterweight division, one would assume that his transition from professional boxing has, indeed, been a successful one.
The 39-year-old will make the first defense of his trinket this Saturday, taking on Rico Franco in the co-main event of BKFC’s upcoming card in Spain.
And yet, while the former WBA ‘regular’ super welterweight champion is in the process of forging a new legacy, he seemingly still harbors regrets about his previous boxing career, with one fight in particular weighing heavily on his mind.
Austin Trout looks to rematch Canelo Alvarez in BKFC
Trout was floored and comprehensively outpointed by Canelo Alvarez when they locked horns over a decade ago, yet the American believes that he has the beating of boxing’s pound-for-pound star in BKFC.
Of course, Canelo is still the super middleweight king in boxing but, at the age of 34, the clock on his illustrious career is slowly but surely beginning to run down.
Still, while Trout most certainly has his sights set on Alvarez, there are other names in boxing, too, that could make for intriguing matchups.
“Canelo if you want that rematch, let’s run it or anyone else that has a high-profile name,” Trout told talkSPORT.
“Danny Garcia is another one I’ve been calling out for a while, I’d love to get one of those fights.”
Austin Trout insists that Canelo Alvarez would be a good bare-knuckle boxer
Often, in the world of BKFC, former boxers will be matched up against former mixed martial artists.
The idea of a crossover fight is not particularly new, however, as fans were treated to a rather uneventful affair when former boxing world champion Paulie Malignaggi took on former UFC fighter Artem Lobov back in 2019.
And while the fight itself ultimately failed to deliver the fireworks that fans had anticipated – based largely on what they saw during an explosive build-up – Malignaggi was, nonetheless, able to befuddle Lobov with his boxing skills, despite losing a highly controversial decision.
Regardless, Trout believes that Canelo, too, would be well suited to BKFC, hoping to secure a lucrative matchup with the Mexican icon.
“I do [think he’d do well in bare-knuckle], he’s not one of those guys that has hand problems,” he added on talkSPORT.
“I mean he hits hard enough. He’s explosive without having to turn his whole body so that protects his hands.
“I think he would do fine, he is a student of the game so he would learn the type of standing grappling that’s needed to be able to box so I’m sure he’d figure that out.”