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Canelo Alvarez (51-1-2, 35 KOs) made it look easy in his first fight at super middleweight, sending England’s Rocky Fielding (27-2, 15 KOs) to the canvas four times en route to a third-round technical knockout Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Alvarez didn’t shut the lights out, but Fielding had no choice but to power down after he took a beating. DAZN showed the winning moment:
Alvarez won Fielding’s WBA world title at 168 pounds. He looked no worse for wear, fighting just three months after winning his epic slugfest with Gennady Golovkin by majority decision. After the bout, he said he liked competing at his new weight, per NYFights.com’s Michael Woods:
Michael Woods @Woodsy1069
Canelo said he liked feeling strong at 168, didn’t have to cut so much.
Mannix doing a real good job with questions.
It was Fielding’s second career loss, with the other coming by TKO against Callum Smith in 2015. The matchup was Alvarez’s first as part of his 11-fight megadeal with sports streaming service DAZN, which is the richest contract in sports history. He looked like he deserved every dollar.
Alvarez was locked in from the start. He cuts a much smaller figure than Fielding, but he had no trouble with getting in range to attack. His punch accuracy was incredible, forcing Fielding to the ropes multiple times in the first round. A picture-perfect left hook to the body without about a minute remaining in the first frame dropped the Englishman to one knee.
Sporting News’ Andreas Hale felt Alvarez wasn’t wasting any time:
Andreas Hale @AndreasHale
Canelo tearing Rocky’s body apart with hooks. Crushes him with an uppercut. Canelo isn’t here for overtime.
It was more of the same in the second round. Fielding tried to smother Alvarez’s attack by using his size and length advantage, but the Mexican superstar was too quick and too crafty. Another thumping left hook to the side put Fielding down again—this time without about 30 seconds left in the frame.
Ring TV’s Ryan Songalia didn’t think it would last much longer:
Ryan Songalia @ryansongalia
Ref should do a mercy stoppage here, this guy is going to take a beating for as long as it lasts #CaneloRocky
The third round ended the carnage. Cuts opened over Fielding’s face, and his torso was deep red because of the onslaught. He had no strategy or skill to get away from Alvarez’s relentless attack. The referee had to wave it off after the round’s second knockdown—a result of yet another devastating power punch to Fielding’s ravaged left side.
Clearly, Fielding was no match for Alvarez. The latter needs a much better challenge for his next performance. Hale offered one possibility based on the night’s proceedings:
Andreas Hale @AndreasHale
Yup, Daniel Jacobs is getting into the ring to challenge Canelo for Cinco De Mayo weekend in Las Vegas. Oh boy.
Daniel Jacobs is one of the sport’s toughest fighters. He gave Golovkin all he could handle in March 2017 and would represent an excellent next test for one of the most gifted, popular boxers in the world.
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