3 reasons to tune into Canelo Alvarez vs. Rocky Fielding

Name of the Fight: Canelo Alvarez vs. Rocky Fielding

Date: December 15 from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York

Time: 6PM EST

Network: Stream on DAZN

Wherever Canelo fights, the boxing world follows. The 28-year-old Mexican middleweight has been at the center of some of the biggest fights in recent memory. His bout with Floyd Mayweather was (perhaps prematurely) touted as one of the undefeated Mayweather’s biggest risks to his record, while Canelo’s two-bout series with Gennady Golovkin was both rabidly watched and full of controversy, with both ending on decisions that have been contested since giving Canelo a draw and a victory.

To follow up September’s rematch, Canelo is taking on a new challenge, sliding up a weight class to super middleweight to challenge Rocky Fielding for his secondary world title at none other than the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City. This will be Canelo’s first-ever fight at super middleweight; he spent most of his career bouncing around between light middleweight and catchweight before jumping up to the middleweight proper for his fights against Golovkin.

Up against Canelo will be the much-less heralded yet still dangerous Rocky Fielding. The 31-year-old Brit has an impressive record of his own, compiling 27 wins against only one loss, to Callum Smith back in November of 2015. He’s won 6 fights in a row heading into his shodown with Canelo, including his last bout against German fighter Tyron Zeuge in July of this year, wherein Fielding won the WBA regular super middleweight title that he will put up against Canelo. Here’s why you can’t miss this talked-about match.

Fifteen of his wins have been by knockout or TKO heading into the December 15 showdown. Most of those wins have happened in the beginning stages of fights: 12 of his 15 knockouts have occured in the first half of fights, including a 5th round KO of Zuege to win the belt.

Unfortunately for Fielding, Canelo is a master of not getting knocked out. In his only loss, to Mayweather, Canelo went the distance, losing only on a majority decision. Perhaps more impressively, Canelo’s chin stood a barrage from Golovkin in both fights, a tough task against one of the hardest-hitting boxers in the world.

Since going for the knockout will likely not result in a successful title defense for Fielding, he’ll have to work the points and hope that he gets more favorable judges than Golovkin. That’s a tough ask against someone as technical as Canelo; the Mexican fighter dances around the ring and racks up points by simply not falling behind. He’s not as defensive as Mayweather, who makes his high-profile fights boring by virtue of being the best defensive boxer ever, but Canelo can withstand barrages and land some devastating counters when he sees openings. That’s how he was able to tire out Golovkin, particularly in his win earlier this year. That will most likely be his gameplan against Fielding, who simply does not have the pedigree to stand toe-to-toe with Canelo. His best chance will be to steal a handful of early rounds off pure adrenaline while Canelo gets his feet under him, then scrape enough 9-10 scorecards to pull off the upset.

So, will he? It’s hard to say, because Fielding has never fought anyone remotely close to the caliber of Canelo. To say that this is his biggest test to date is an understatement; oddsmakers have him as a +900 underdog, meaning that if you bet $100 on Fielding and he manages to pull off the victory, you’d bank a cool $900. It’d be one of the biggest upsets in recent boxing history, which is exactly why Canelo’s team accepted the fight, even with the jump in division. After two grueling, hotly-debated bouts with Golovkin, a comfortable win would be right up the fighter’s alley and would be a great way to kick off his 10 fight, $350 million deal with DAZN, who will be streaming the fight in lieu of HBO, whose deal with Canelo ended with the September fight.

Either way, one thing that Canelo fights always bring is spectacle. Having this fight in the so-called most famous arena in the world under the bright lights of New York will make it an event, regardless of the outcome. Canelo-Fielding may not have the hysteria behind it that some of the Mexican fighter’s biggest bouts have had, but any chance to see a top class athlete ply his craft with the world watching is worth checking out. And who knows? Stranger things have happened than a boxer landing an out-of-nowhere knockout blow to a favored opponent. Fielding won’t be backing down due to history, and December 15 will be his chance to create a new legend for himself.