Former junior middleweight world titleholder Austin Trout and former title challenger Terrell Gausha would each like another opportunity at the belt but will have to go through each other to get closer to one.
They will fight each other in a 10-round bout in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card on May 25 (Fox Sports 1 and Fox Deportes, 8 p.m. ET) at the Beau Rivage Resort Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, PBC announced on Thursday.
“I’m excited to be back in the ring,” Trout said. “I’m ready to take another chop at the world title and this is my way back. I’m really motivated to get that championship belt again. Gausha is a strong, technical fighter with an Olympic pedigree. I’ve got to get in there and take care of him and look good doing it. A good win over him will get me right back in the mix.”
Trout (31-5, 17 KOs), 33, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, will be returning from an 11-month layoff following a majority decision loss challenging Jermell Charlo for his 154-pound world title last June. Trout’s biggest win was a clear decision over Miguel Cotto in a title defense in 2012 and he also gave Canelo Alvarez a very tough fight in a close decision loss in his next bout in 2013.
Gausha (21-1, 10 KOs), 31, of Cleveland, who was a 2012 U.S. Olympian, received a junior middleweight world title shot in 2017 but got knocked down in the fourth round and lost a unanimous decision to Erislandy Lara. After a 14-month layoff, Gausha bounced back win a first-round knockout of Joey Hernandez in December, who suffered a sixth-round knockout loss to Trout in 2015. “I feel good about this fight and I think it’s the perfect fight for me,” Gausha said. “With Austin Trout being a former champion and having experience fighting all the top guys in the division, it gives me a chance to show where I’m at. It’s not only about winning, but it’s the way I’ll win that will put people on notice.”
In the co-feature, junior middleweight Chordale Booker (14-0, 7 KOs), 27, a southpaw from Stamford, Connecticut, will face Wale “Lucky Boy” Omotoso (27-3, 21 KOs), 33, a Nigeria native fighting out of Los Angeles, in a 10-round bout.
In the televised opener, Ronnie Shields-trained blue chip welterweight prospect Eimantas Stanionis (8-0, 5 KOs), 24, a 2016 Olympian from Lithuania now living in Oxnard, California, will face an opponent to be determined in an eight- or 10-round fight.