Canelo Alvarez vs Rocky Fielding: Mexican outclasses Briton in one-sided clash in New York

Mexico’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez underlined his credentials as the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night when he outclassed a hopelessly overmatched Rocky Fielding.

Stepping up to super-middleweight for the first time, Alvarez, 28, was always in control of the bout and floored England’s Fielding in the first, second and third rounds before the ref waved the contest off.

A series of thudding body shots slowly knocked the fight out of Liverpool’s Fielding, who came into the fight as champion. After his third body-shot knockdown in round three, the 31-year-old looked forlornly to his corner. His punishment didn’t last much longer as a fourth knockdown moments later forced the referee to end matters.

The win for the Mexican earned him his third weight class title, adding the WBA super middleweight strap to his collection.

Coming off his close decision win against Gennady Golovkin three months ago to take the WBA and WBC middleweight titles, Alvarez could hear chants of “Canelo! Canelo!” long before he entered the ring at MSG for the first time. Throughout a lengthy undercard, it was clear who the sell-out crowd came to see and cheer.

He delivered with power and precision.

Only eight other Mexican fighters have held three division titles. And Alvarez (51-1-2) says he is headed back to the 160-pound class he rules, with possibly a third go against Golovkin in 2019. If this was a one-off, it was quite a show in his New York debut.

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Fielding won the WBA crown in July when he knocked out Tyron Zeuge in Germany in the fifth round. But the Englishman had never faced anyone close to Canelo’s class, and it showed.

The fight ended with 22 seconds remaining in the third round.

Additional reporting by Associated Press.