Austin Trout is more than down to take on BKFC’s finest.
The former WBA boxing champion is ready to challenge two-division BKFC champion Luis Palomino for one of his titles. Trout is coming off a successful bareknuckle boxing debut against former UFC contender Diego Sanchez at last weekend’s BKFC Knucklemania 3 in Albuquerque, N.M.
Despite only having one bareknuckle boxing fight under his belt, Trout feels capable of taking on the challenge.
“If they’re going to give it to me, I’ll take it,” Trout told MMA Junkie Radio. “I’ve seen videos of Luis Palomino, and I’m not saying he’s not a good fighter. He’s definitely a good fighter and champ for a reason, but I see something, and I’m with it. If they give me that opportunity, I’ll take it.”
Following Trout’s win over Sanchez, Palomino stepped into the ring to tease a potential fight between the two. Palomino would like to defend in April – a date Trout likes, but isn’t 100 percent sure about.
“I think I can be ready by April, we’ll see,” Trout said. “My hands are still a little tender. We’ll see how long it takes for them to get better, and then we’ll start from there.”
As far as the challenge itself, Trout sees Palomino as a formidable opponent. He respects what he’s done in the bareknuckle boxing world, but still feels his boxing pedigree will be too much for the Peruvian.
“With Palomino, we better take him seriously,” Trout said. “Even with Diego, we took him seriously. We had to take him seriously. It only takes one shot.
“Palomino has much better hands than Diego, it’s evident. I mean, he’s the champion, and he’s, I think, eight fights in and undefeated and all. I think, again, he’s going to have to have an answer for the counter shots. In boxing, something that I was really good at was to draw people in and then meeting them right where they are. And that was the best way to work people who have slower feet.
“I don’t want to give too much away, but he’s going to have to figure that out. And if he does fogure it out, I have like one or two things more that he’s going to have to figure out.”
