Getty Canelo Alvarez
Canelo Alvarez made a statement on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. He finished Rocky Fielding in the third round to become the new WBA Regular Super Middleweight champion. Take a look at the KO:
Canelo steamrolls Rocky in 3
After Alvarez’s win over Gennady Golovkin earlier in September, the 28-year-old came into the bout with Fielding as the reigning WBC and IBF middleweight champions. He chose to climb up to the next division to add another title to his list of accomplishments.
The KO win was Alvarez’s first since 2016 when he stopped Liam Smith. Overall, it was Alvarez’s 35th win via KO. Alvarez has done a solid job rebuilding his reputation after he was a bit stained by a PED scandal that forced the rematch with Golovkin to be postponed. After being cleared to return to the ring, Alvarez scored the decision win over Golovkin earlier this year, signed a $365 million deal with DAZN, and now in the first fight on that deal, Alvarez has scored a KO victory.
That’s a significant turnaround for the sport’s top star.
Fielding has nothing to be ashamed of with this loss. Alvarez is one of the sport’s best. This is only Fielding’s second defeat with the other coming to Smith in 2015. Clearly, he’s not on Alvarez’s level, but there is no reason to believe he can’t compete with some of the other top fighters in the 168-pound division.
For those who began their free-trial subscription with DAZN because of this and future Alvarez fights, they’re likely satisfied customers. Look for Alvarez to explore a variety of other options in his next fight. He could always fight Golovkin a third time or chase the only two belts he doesn’t own at 160 pounds. At the moment, fellow DAZN fighters Daniel Jacobs (IBF) and Demetrius Andrade (WBO) are the other titleholders and would seemingly be fighters Golden Boy wouldn’t have a problem negotiating with for a unification bout.
Alvarez would be the obvious A-side, and since him, Andrade and Jacobs are signed to Matchroom (which has a deal with DAZN), there should be no question where the event would be broadcast or streamed. Perhaps the most fan-friendly option for Alvarez is a bout against WBC interim champion Jermall Charlo. The latter is one of the Top 10 fighters in the world, in my opinion, and stylistically he could be a significant threat to Alvarez. Perhaps that’s why we won’t see the fight.
Also, Charlo is signed to Premier Boxing Champions which is linked to FOX. Negotiating that fight seems almost impossible, but this is boxing, and anything can happen.
Alvarez could also elect to fight for more championships at 168 pounds. There aren’t any overly compelling fights at that weight class for Alvarez. The other champions are Jose Uzcategui and Gilberto Ramirez. Unless you’re a hardcore boxing fan, you probably have no idea who those guys are, and that means the commercial value isn’t that high.
In any case, Alvarez put on a show in his opening act on his DAZN deal.