Canelo vs. Rocky Recap – Alvarez Wins Title in Third Division

Boxing
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Posted: Dec 16, 2018 | Updated: 3 years ago

On Saturday night, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (Mexico) put on a show in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden, dominating and stopping former WBA super middleweight champion Rocky Fielding (UK). Alvarez dropped Fielding four times en route to an easy third-round TKO victory.

Canelo vs. Rocky – Fight Recap

The bout started out with some back and forth action. Both fighters threw combinations as they tried to earn each other’s respect. Eventually, it was Alvarez’s pressure and power that visibly began to wear on the larger Fielding. In the final minute or so of the first round, Canelo landed a strong left hook to the body that forced Fielding to take a knee. Rocky would survive the round without taking too much more punishment.

The second round brought more action, with both fighters doing much of their work on the inside. Fielding was once again dropped by a left to the body, and once again he managed to survive the rest of the round. Canelo came out throwing bombs in round three, eventually dropping Fielding with a right hand to the head. Once Fielding got to his feet, referee Ricky Gonzalez could be heard letting him know that he would stop the fight after one more knockdown. That final knockdown came almost as soon as the fight resumed, with Rocky taking a knee from a final left to the body.

Alvarez improved to 51-1-2 with the win, becoming a three-division world champion. When questioned about his next opponent, Canelo did not name anyone specific, though he did leave open the possibility of a trilogy fight with Gennady Golovkin.

Also featured at the event, American Tevin Farmer (28-4-1) outboxed and outpointed Costa Rica’s Francisco Fonseca in defense of his IBF super featherweight title. The 28-year-old Farmer has not lost a bout since 2012.

Also on the card, Irish lightweight star Katie Taylor defended her IBF and WBA titles once again with a dominant unanimous decision win over the previously undefeated Eva Wahlstrom. Taylor improved to 12-0 with the victory.

Other Notable Fight Results

  • Gilberto Ramirez UD12 Jesse Hart (Dec. 14th)
  • Sven Fornling UD12 Karo Murat
  • Sadam Ali UD10 Mauricio Herrera
  • Ryan Garcia KO5 Braulio Rodriguez

I predicted a TKO win for Alvarez in the middle rounds, but I was not surprised at all with the third round stoppage. Fielding might have survived a bit longer if he had chosen to box more, but I think after taking some big body shots early on, Rocky realized that his only chance was to stand and hope he could catch Canelo with something. Though he lost to the smaller man, Fielding showed heart and helped put on a good show for the fans.

The fight was a mismatch before it even began, but nevertheless, on paper Canelo is now a three-weight world champion. Fielding made perfect sense as an easy, but still significant, title fight to kick off Canelo’s new DAZN deal. Hopefully in 2019 we get to see Alvarez (who owns the WBA and WBC titles at middleweight) back at 160 in a unification bout against the likes of IBF champion Daniel Jacobs or WBO champion Demetrius Andrade.

Comment below with who you think Canelo should face next. Does he pursue a third fight with GGG, go after another title, or look for an easier fight?

 

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