Rocky Fielding may have the reach and size advantage over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez ahead of their fight on Saturday night – but the weight advantage was a slender one.
The pair clash at the fabled Madison Square Garden, exclusively live on Sky Sports in the UK and on DAZN Stateside, for the former’s WBA ‘regular’ super-middleweight title.
Fielding clinched the title against Tyron Zeuge back in July, when he travelled to Germany to dethrone the hometown man in devastating fashion inside five rounds, and the man from Liverpool is now just a few hours away from the biggest fight of his career to date.
The former British and Commonwealth champion tipped the scales just a quarter of a pound heavier than the WBC, WBA Super and IBO middleweight king, from Guadalajara, Mexico, who steps up in weight to challenge the 31-year-old less than three months after dethroning Gennady Golovkin in their rematch at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
‘Rocky From Stocky’ came in at 11st 13.6lbs ahead of the mammoth task he has ahead of him, one he has described as “the biggest fight of my life,” while the challenger was 11st 13.4lbs.
Canelo stands five inches shorter than Fielding at 5ft 9in.
And Fielding believes that will play into his hands. He said: “He’s an all-round great and he is the complete fighter, but I’m prepared.
“I know I’ll have to bite down on the gumshield and fight it out, I need to use every advantage that I’ve got. It’s my weight division. I’ve been at super-middleweight for a long time.
“When people come to KO me, that’s when I catch them off-guard and get the KO myself. But ‘Canelo’ is an experienced and clever fight that doesn’t make many mistakes, so the things that we’ve been working on in camp will have to pay off on Saturday night.”
Article by: Elliot Foster