Canelo makes easy work of Fielding

Sub Lead16-Dec-18by John J. Raspanti

By Jason Gonzalez at ringside

Canelo vs. Rocky Dec.15

Fresh off his signing with DAZN, a deal worth a cool $365 million, the unified middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez brought his world tour to the ‘Big Apple.”

In what was Canelo’s first trip to Madison Square Garden, the Mexican star captured a third world title in a fifth different weight class. The four-time world champion added the WBA super middleweight [168] strap to his already growing collection.

Canelo, now 51-1-2, (35) obliterated the significantly taller, but less heralded Rocky Fielding of England within 3 rounds. Canelo unleashed a relentless body attack on his counterpart that forced the overmatched Brit [27-2, (15) to succumb to the assault by dropping to his knees a total of four times.

The time was 2:38 seconds into round three.

“That was the plan in the gym, to hit the body and then move up, and that’s the result,” Canelo said. “You see the result here.”

Canelo was last seen in the ring three months ago, upending middleweight king Gennady Golovkin via a majority decision in their highly anticipated rematch at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas,NV.

In that contest Canelo suffered a bad cut over his right eye, however, it was a non-factor in the bout with Fielding. With regards to how he felt fighting at super middleweight and the future, Canelo replied,

“Very good, very strong. I didn’t have to dehydrate myself to make weight. I feel good and I feel strong.

“We’ll have to see. I’ll have to talk to my team, enjoy the holiday and then I’ll talk to my team. But right now, without a doubt, what I want are the best fights.”

A raucous crowd of over 20,112, all of whom were chanting “Mexico” [in three syllables] witnessed Canelo drop Fielding once in the first, once in the second, and twice in the third round with vicious left hooks to the body and a looping right hand to the head.

“He placed his shots well,” Fielding said. “He caught me. I stood there too long. … I should’ve kept it long [away from Alvarez]. I just stood there and he caught me. I gave it everything and the better man won.”

Previous Puerto Rican fighters such as Felix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto were once a staple in the arena, the Garden was once viewed as a haven for Puerto Rican fighters due to the loyalty of the Boricua fan base.

However, last night proved that Mexican constituency on the east coast is just as enamored with the ‘sweet science,’ if not more than their fellow Latin American comrades.

In the post-fight interview, Canelo had expressed that he wants to fight in the best fights. A potential rubber match with Golovkin would be on the table, under the condition that Golovkin sign with DAZN. Another prospective matchup would be a unification bout with IBF middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs of Brooklyn.

Jacobs happened to witness the massacre from ringside. Jacobs, who is promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, is a network free agent. So, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that he sign with DAZN.

WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade fights on DAZN, so a unification bout with Canelo is a realistic option, but Andrade has legal issues to tend to. Andrade was recently arrested for carrying an unlicensed gun.

Canelo’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya announced that he has reserved the T-Mobile Arena ‘Cinco de Mayo’ weekend. As per De La Hoya, Canelo does not have an opponent yet.

However, both he and Canelo are keeping their options open both at 160 pounds as well as 168.

“I’m happy and I’m grateful to be here. I hope this is the first of many,” Canelo said with respect to fighting at the Garden.