Southpaw junior middleweight Austin Trout will be wearing a patch on his trunks in support of Team Fight To Walk when he faces Mexican WBC counterpart Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Showtime on April 20 at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Alvarez (41-0-1, 31 knockouts), who is 22, will be out to win a clash of unbeatens against Trout (26-0, 14 KOs), whose new association aligns him with popular left-handed 154-pounder Captain Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson (10-1-1, 4 KOs), of New York City.

Melson, 31, donates his entire fight purses to Justadollarplease.org in support of a trial to help cure chronic spinal cord injuries.

“Team Fight to Walk is very important to me. The statistics about number of everyday people and US troops impacted by Spinal Cord Injuries are scary,” said Trout.

“For this organization to be on the forefront of helping find a cure is amazing. Team Fight to Walk is a great thing and I’m happy to help anyway I can. So many troops are suffering from spinal cord injuries. I will do all that I can to spread the word and help the cause.”

Before turning pro in 2005, Trout was one of the top amateur boxers in America. Trout narrowly missed qualifying for the 2004 United States Olympic Team after falling by decision to Vanes Martirosyan. Before facing Martirosyan at the Olympic Trials, Trout decisioned Melson, with whom he became re-acquainted.
 
“Austin is a world champion in and out the ring. There are so many people that forget about others once they make it big,” said Melson. “Austin is still a humble person and a class act who remembers all about the match we had and the cause I fight for. I’m overjoyed that he’s officially a part of this. It’s going to be huge.”

ADONIS STEVENSON AVENGES LONE DEFEAT

Super middleweight knockout artist Adonis “Superman” Stevenson’s sixth-round stoppage of Darnell Boone  on Friday night avenged the lone career at Bell Centre in Montreal, Stevenson’s promoter, Yvon Michel, announced at a press conference on Monday.

Stevenson (20-1, 17 knockouts) has scored seven straight knockout win since falling by second-round stoppage o Boone (19-21-3, 8 KOs) in April of 2010.

Stevenson, 35, had last been in the ring for October’s 12th-round knockout of Donovan “Da Bomb” George, whom he dropped five times.

Meanwhile, Boone, who is 33, has now gone 3-5-1 since facing Stevenson the first time, having been stopped three time and lost his last four fights. One of his two wins was by TKO.

 Stevenson could be in line for a clash against RING and WBC 175-pound champion Chad Dawson (31-2, 17 KOs), whose promoter, Gary Shaw, informed RingTV.com that he was working to match Dawson against Stevenson on June 8 on HBO.

BRANDON RIOS, MIKE ALVARADO CAN NOT WAIT TO DO BATTLE

On March 30, there will be a rematch of October’s bloody Fight-of-The-Year-caliber clash between junior welterweights Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado, which is the next fight for each of the brawlers following their first meeting.

Rios (31-0-1, 23 knockouts) became the first man to stop Alvarado (33-1, 23 KOs), doing so by seventh-round knockout.

“I don’t usually like to do immediate rematches but this first fight was really so great,” said Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes both Rios and Alvarado.

“There was a demand for it to get done, and the people at HBO came up with a financial package that was very appealing.  Both fighters are getting considerable more than they got the first time, so it’s the exception that proves the rule.”

Rios had been considered for a bout against Juan Manuel Marquez, who scored December’s sixth-round knockout over Manny Pacquiao, and was 0-2-1 against Pacquiao coming into that bout.

But after a matchup with Marquez did not come to fruition, Alvarado became a welcome option.

“It’s never too soon to do it again. We are warriors, and if you are a warrior, you want to fight again and again and again,” said Rios.

“It is never too soon.  The first fight was great.  I feel great and I’m ready for another battle.  I am just ready to do it again.  I am ready for another battle.  Why wait?  It is never too soon.”

Alvarado agreed.

“I agree with Brandon, and we’re ready to do it, , so it’s fight on,” said Alvarado. “I can’t wait for the chance to redeem myself from the first fight and it is a fight that everyone wants to see.”

LUCIAN BUTE TO TRAIN IN PALM BEACH, FLA.

Southpaw ex-super middleweight titleholder Lucian Bute (31-1, 24 KOs) will begin training for his May 25, all-Canadian clash with former light heavyweight champ Jean Pascal (27-2-1, 16 KOs) at the Palm Beach Boxing Center in Palm Beach, Fla.

Bute will open camp on Tuesday, March 26, a day that will begin his fourth appearance at the Palm Beach Boxing Center.

Bute (31-1, 24 KOs) is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over previously unbeaten Denis Grachev last November, which helped him to rebound from last May’s fifth-round knockout loss to Froch that dethroned him as IBF titleholder. 

Pascal is coming off a unanimous-decision triumph over Aleksy Kuziemski last December that helped him to rebound from the unanimous-decision loss to Bernard Hopkins in May of 2011.

Bute-Pascal will be part of a split-site double-header on HBO that will include a rematch between IBF super middleweight titleholder Carl Froch Froch (30-2, 22 KOs) and Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KOs) in Britain.

Kessler dethroned Froch as WBC beltholder by unanimous decision in a bloody battle that was part of Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic in April of 2010.

Photos by Chris Farina, Top Rank

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]