18-year-old Cruiserweight prospect Tristan Kalkreuth (5-0) wants it all, and if you talked to him, you’d believe in him and root for him to get it done.
In a recent phone interview with Round By Round Boxing, we asked Kalkreuth about his goals in the sport, hoping to aim him in the direction of speaking about a potential move to heavyweight. Unsurprisingly, the undefeated 6’4″ freak athlete (read further to hear about his backflip) has it all planned out.
Initially, Kalkreuth spoke on his short term plan of gaining experience, round by round and fight by fight. However, it didn’t take long to address those long term goals.
“I think I’ll settle at Cruiserweight for the next two-to-three years,” said Kalkreuth. “Then I’ll start looking to Heavyweight.”
Tristan responded as if he knew my question before I asked.
However, Kalkreuth was in no way arrogant in his responses, he knows what it will take to compete at both Cruiserweight and Heavyweight in the future.
“I’ll have to see how my body fills out and how my power comes along. Everybody has thuds at Cruiserweight and Heavyweight,” said Kalkreuth with a laugh.
Obviously, Kalkreuth’s goal is to become a world champion, but beyond that, he can envision himself claiming belts at Cruiserweight and Heavyweight.
Specifically, when asked if he has goals of being a two-weight world champion (this conversation took place prior to the advent of the new WBC division) he answered directly:
“Definitely. I think of being like Evander Holyfield,” said Kalkreuth.
A few things were abundantly clear in conversation with Kalkreuth: He loves what he does, he has confidence in his ability, he is dedicated to his goals and he’s probably fun to be around.
When asked about his showmanship and bravado, Kalkreuth explained it was simply his personality.
“It’s just my personality,” laughed Kalkreuth. “I don’t think anyone was expecting that backflip out of me at my size in my first fight.”
Not likely.
However, standing at 6’4″, the 18-year-old Texas native has displayed incredible athleticism in the ring (flip included), which he believes is a big part of his game.
“I try to be as mobile as possible. I don’t want to be stiff,” explained Kalkreuth. “And, every now and then I try to hit a flip in there.”
When asked if we could expect a flip following a knockout in his upcoming fight, Kalkreuth responded with certainty:
“Definitely.”
In regards to his upcoming bout, Kalkreuth spoke on the difficulties that existed early on in COVID.
“The beginning of COVID was pretty tough, we had to just train at home,” said Kalkreuth.
However, since then, Kalkreuth was able to move his training to a widely revered trainer inside of his home state.
“Once things started to smooth out, I was able to go over to Houston and start training with Ronnie Shields at his gym,” said Kalkreuth.
Mix the athleticism and talent with Ronnie Shields’ training and we might be in for something special with Kalkreuth. Just as importantly, the young prospect understands the value in sweat equity and hard work.
“Every camp is harder,” said Kalkreuth. “My mentality is to make each camp harder than the last, and this is the hardest camp so far.”
With the bulk of camp behind him, Kalkreuth feels comfortable, confident and ready.
“I feel good now, my body’s ready so now it’s fun in the ring,” said Kalkreuth.
With fans or not, Kalkreuth is ready to put on a show for the viewers at home.
“I know a lot of people will be watching at home. I like to fight and I hope they enjoy the show,” said Kalkreuth.
You can catch Tristan Kalkreuth on the undercard of the Jaime Munguia vs. Tureano Johnson bout on DAZN.
