A mismatch is a mismatch at any weight.
British super middleweight fringe contender Rocky Fielding (27-2, 15 KOs) was chosen to be pound for pound elite Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez’s (51-1-2, 34 KOs) opponent this weekend for two reasons. For one, he had a trinket at 168 lbs that Golden Boy can now claim to be a world title in another division for Canelo. It isn’t legitimate, but that is a different rant for a different time. The other reason Fielding was chosen was because he was an obvious showcase opponent as well.
Rocky was rocked to the body quickly in the first round. It didn’t take him long to be down on a knee and in pain. While he fired back when he could, it was clear that Canelo was entirely overwhelming for the British fighter right from the opening bell. Again in the second round the aggressive Mexican put his overmatched foe down to the body. When Fielding went down this time I thought it was over as he looked at his corner like he was done, but Rocky tried to live up to his name and rose to finish the second round.
He didn’t finish the third. This time Canelo first clipped his increasingly defensive opponent with a chopping right hand that put him down. Once again Fielding rose, but a vicious follow up attack back to the body had him down within seconds for the fourth and final time. The referee didn’t even bother to give him a count and the fight was mercifully stopped.
Post-fight Canelo said that he did feel the Golovkin rivarly was finished, but also that a third fight was possible if the fans wanted it. He also refused to commit on a weight going forward. Hopefully we see him in with another top fighter if a trilogy doesn’t happen yet.
