"I can whoop him and him" - Former WBA champion Austin Trout reveals what made him sign with BKFC despite having plans for another boxing title

Austin Trout is the newest high-profile signing for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

BKFC continues to expand rapidly despite some backlash over the brutality of bare-knuckle boxing. Trout, a former WBA light middleweight boxing champion from 2011 to 2012, is now taking off the gloves to join the movement. After signing a multi-fight deal with BKFC, the 37-year-old was on MMA Junkie Radio and had this to say about the announcement:

“I still have plans to get another world title in boxing, but man, when they said, ‘Would you ever do bare knuckle?,’ I watched it, I’m a fan. I’ve been watching it. I’m already a fan, so I was like, ‘Man, I can whoop him and him,’ I’m already looking at the landscape. So when they asked me, ‘Would you do it?,’ Would I? That takes me back to my roots. I’m from New Mexico. That’s a desert out there, and fighting is one of the things we do out there a lot. So bareknuckle is taking me back to my New Mexican roots.”

The former WBA champion is scheduled to fight Jose Sanchez Charles (20-2-1) on December 9. After fighting Charles, the 37-year-old will likely make his BKFC debut, where he already has his eyes set on a future matchup against Luis Palomino.

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Austin Trout says he’s coming after Luis Palomino

Luis Palomino is widely considered to be the number one pound-for-pound bare-knuckle boxer on the planet. ‘Baboon’ is a two-division BKFC champion with a promotional record of 7-0.

Now that Austin Trout is committed to fighting bare-knuckle, his goals are to become a world champion and fight the best, similar to what he's done in boxing. During the same appearance on MMA Junkie Radio, Trout had this to say about Palomino:

“He’s the best in that organization, so that’s who I’m coming for. Let me get my feet wet, Luis [Palomino]. He’s had a good run, but he ain’t fighting nobody like me nor would he until I step in there, so yeah, that’s the one.”

Austin Trout holds a professional boxing record of 35-5-1 with 18 KOs. The former WBA champion is not afraid of a challenge, as four of his losses are against Canelo Alvarez, Erislandy Lara, Jermall Charlo, and Jermell Charlo. It’ll be intriguing to see how the 37-year-old transitions to bare-knuckle while simultaneously fighting with gloves.