Rocky Fielding vs Canelo Alvarez Preview & Prediction

Rocky Fielding vs Canelo Alvarez Preview & Prediction

By Henry Walter 

Liverpool’s Rocky Fielding will enter the ring to face Saul Alvarez tomorrow night as an 8-1 underdog. There are fairly obvious reasons why Alvarez is such a red-hot favourite. His stellar 50-1-2 (34 KOs) record has seen him beat most of the top names in and around his weight division.

Alvarez has bested a host of elite men such as Golovkin, Cotto, Mosley, Khan, Lara and Trout. As the reigning middleweight champion he also enjoys a place in the Ring Magazine’s pound for pound top ten.

His sole loss came as a twenty-three year old when he was outpointed by Floyd Mayweather at light-middleweight. He has proved himself to be one of the best active fighters in any weight division and is coming off arguably his best win against fellow pound for pound ranked Gennady Golovkin, who started as the favourite against him.

Fielding’s record just doesn’t compare. He boasts a very respectable 27-1 ledger with 15 KO wins but his one loss came inside the first round against reigning super-middleweight champion Callum Smith in a British title fight.

He has since rebounded superbly, winning six in a row and capturing the WBA Super-middleweight Championship last time out against the decent Tyron Zeuge. Yet, Smith apart, Fielding has never fought anyone close to the calibre of the best men that Alvarez has beaten.

Fielding’s brilliant winning run has seen him rebound superbly from the Smith setback and has set him up for his chance at a “Rocky” story moment. Yet on paper the outcome of this fight should be a foregone conclusion.

Alvarez has been so successful at a much higher level than Fielding. He has picked Fielding as an easy fight after his aforementioned duo of tough fights with middleweight great Golovkin.

Yet boxing fight outcomes are often not as obvious as they seem. Fielding’s loss to Smith looks a lot better now that Smith has proved his formidable talent by winning the Super-middleweight world title, beating the likes of George Groves along the way.

Although Fielding hasn’t beaten the level of opposition that Canelo has he has faced very capable opposition and, apart from against Smith, he has always found a way to win. The WBA regular title has lost a lot of its value with the proliferation of alphabet titles in world boxing but it is still quite a valued title and Fielding captured it in impressive style.

In recent times Fielding has appeared to be improving in almost every fight. He has a very solid skill set with no glaring weaknesses. Factor in also that Alvarez is moving up in weight to super-middleweight for the first time and suddenly a Fielding win starts to stop looking quite so impossible.

Alvarez’s speed and power will certainly give Fielding problems. He has far greater experience than Fielding of the big fight occasion and the atmosphere that goes with it. However he will need to find ways to overcome Fielding’s significant height and reach advantages.

Alvarez has a good, ever improving, defence but he is hittable at world level and if he’s not careful he could well find himself being picked off by the six feet, one inch Fielding and losing rounds.

Most experts are envisaging a Alvarez wipeout but I can see it being a very competitive fight. Alvarez will not be easy to beat. His world class skills, coupled with the hometown factor (the fight takes place in the US, home of Alvarez’s promotors Golden Boy Promotions) could well give him the edge he needs to take Fielding’s title. However I believe Fielding will surprise everyone and either stop Alvarez late on or win a tight but deserved decision.