WBA Champ Austin Trout and Top 10 Contenders
Alfred Angulo, Jermell Charlo & Carlos Molina
Can’t Commit Either Way; They All Want to Fight the Winner
Saturday, Feb. 23, Live on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m. ET/PT)
From The Masonic Temple Theatre in Detroit
So who’s going to win the eagerly awaited IBF Junior Middleweight World Championship fight between defending champion Cornelius “K9“ Bundrage (32-4, 19 KO’s) of Detroit and Ishe “Sugar Shay” Smith (24-5, 11 KO’s) of Las Vegas on Saturday, Feb. 23 in the main event live on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from the Masonic Temple Theatre in Detroit?
Neither undefeated WBA Super Welterweight World Champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout (26-0, 14 KO’s) nor three top-10 contenders in the 154-pound division, hard-hitting Alfred Angulo (22-2, 18 KO’s) unbeatens Jermell Charlo (20-0, 10 KO’s) and Carlos Molina (17-0-1, 7 KO’s), could predict a clear-cut winner, although they say the challenger may hold the slightest of edges.
What the four boxers agreed on, however, is that this is a compelling matchup that they definitely will be watching and that, most important of all, they want to fight the winner.
Below is what they said about the upcoming world title fight:
AUSTIN TROUT
“I think this is going to be a good ol’ fashioned brawl. Ishe has more technical skills than “K9,” but he still likes to bang it out. I really don’t know who to pick, but it will be a good fight between two guys who are both kind of inactive, up in age and evenly matched.
“I’ll be tuned in and watching, but I have no any personal interest in who wins. I respect both fighters, they are men of God.
“I’ll respect the winner even more if he’s willing to unify the belts. If one guy has an edge, I think it’s probably Ishe more than “K9.” But good luck to whoever wins, and let’s unify.”
ALFRED ANGULO
“I’ll be watching because these are two important fighters in my weight class in a world title fight. One of them holds the IBF title, and the other might be the new titleholder. The outcome could affect my career, so it’s important for me to watch this fight.
“As for picking a winner, I don’t have a preference either way. Both are talented, yet have contrasting and distinct styles. One is more of a technical fighter, the other is a brawler, so it should make for a very interesting fight.
“I think a lot will depend on Ishe’s condition and if he can handle the pressure because K9 throws punches with a lot of power and a lot of fighters can’t handle that.”
JERMELL CHARLO
“There will be a lot of competent fighters in this weight class who’ll have their eyes glued to the TV for this one. The main reason I’ll be watching is to see who will win. I’m anxious to see if Ishe actually made the changes to his style
