By Ian S Palmer
Newly-crowned WBA Super Middleweight Champion Rocky Fielding of Liverpool, England will be defending the title for the first time when he takes on Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez of Mexico at the famous Madison Square Garden in New York City this Saturday, December 15th. The 12-round bout can be seen live in North America on DAZN while fans in the UK can catch the action on Sky Sports. Fielding won the title in his last bout in July by stopping Tyron Zeuge in the fifth round in Germany. Alvarez’s last action came in September when he beat former undisputed middleweight king Gennady Golovkin by a highly-debatable majority decision.
The 31-year-old Fielding has an impressive record of 27-1 with 15 Kos. He’s 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 75-inch reach so has a five-inch height advantage on Alvarez along with a 4.5-inch edge in reach. He also had a fine amateur career and has boxed 128 rounds as a pro since making his debut in 2010. Since then he’s one several other titles such as the English, Commonwealth, WBA Inter-Continental, WBC International and British Super Middleweight Championships. Fielding hasn’t exactly taken on the cream of the crop in his division though with his biggest wins coming over the likes of Zeuge Luke Blackledge, Charles Adamu, Brian Vera, Christopher Rebrasse, John Ryder and David Brophy.
His lone loss came at the hands of Callum Smith by way of a first-round TKO in November, 2015, so his chin may be a little suspect. However, he did what he had to against Zeuge to take the title as he used his size and power to good advantage. He’ll also had a distinct size advantage over Canelo and will need to keep him from getting inside. That’s not going to be an easy task though and Fielding’s definitely stepping up in class here. If he can’t land anything powerful and make Alvarez respect this punches then he’s going to be in trouble.
Alvarez lifted Gennady Golovkin’s IBO, WBC and WBA ‘Super’ World Middleweight Titles in September, but took quite a bit of punishment in doing so. The first fight, which ended in a highly-controversial draw was no walk in the park either. Alvarez is 28 years old and owns an excellent record of 50-1-2 along with 34 Kos. His only loss was a majority decision to Floyd Mayweather in September of 2013 while his other draw was a four-round affair against Jorge Juarez back in 2006. Alvarez stands 5-feet-9-inches tall and has a reach of 70.5 inches, is quite a bit smaller than Fielding.
Alvarez has a wealth of experience for his age since he turned pro when he was just 15 years old in 2005 and has 376 rounds under his belt since then. He’s taken on and beaten some tough opponents over the years such as Golovkin, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, James Kirkland, Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, Shane Mosley, Josesito Lopez, Kermit Cintron, Carlos Baldomir, and Alfredo Angulo. However, he’s now stepping up in weight to meet Fielding. He really fought only one top middleweight and that was Golovkin as he’s been fighting below the 160 lb. limit or at catchweights so it’ll be interesting to see how he handles the extra weight.
Alvarez has above-average power and enters the fight with a current knockout ratio of 64 per cent and also owns a granite chin and quick hands. However, as Golovkin, Mayweather and Khan to some degree showed, the former world super welterweight and middleweight champ can be outboxed as he has difficulty handling a quick, stiff jab. Alvarez is a good boxer-puncher who likes to go to the body, but has a bit of difficulty with boxers who are mobile. In fact, he struggled at times against Golovkin in their first meeting and was too cautious for most of the contest.
Prediction…
After two grueling fights with Golovkin I think Alvarez and his team believe they can gain a world title here with an easy touch in Fielding. However, it’ll be interesting to see how he can handle the power of a super middleweight if he’s nailed right on the chin. I see Alvarez working his way inside though with solid body and head shots and eventually wearing Fielding down. It may or may not go the distance, but either way I’m expecting Alvarez to add another belt to his collection.
