Fielding: I know I can beat Canelo

Rocky Fielding isn’t being given much chance, but he believes he can pull the upset.

Rocky Fielding is the bigger man, he’s the defending champion (for what it’s worth), and he’s the one fighting at his natural weight on Saturday. But he’s also facing Canelo Alvarez, boxing’s biggest current star, and he knows that’s a big task.

But Fielding (27-1, 15 KO) says that he truly believes he can pull the upset.

From an article by Steve Bunce at ESPN:

“I still know I can beat him and that is why I took the fight. I have been next to him and I know I can put it on him. ... This is a massive fight and a massive opportunity for me. He is the favorite, I’m not stupid — but, I’m bigger, I’m going to push him.”

Fielding is right that Alvarez is the favorite — and by a lot. Not many are buying Rocky’s chances against Canelo (50-1-2, 34 KO), who is coming off of a marquee — if controversial — win over Gennady Golovkin in what was perhaps the biggest fight of 2018. It would no doubt be the clear Upset of the Year if Fielding beats Alvarez.

Nobody doubts Fielding’s determination or heart, I don’t think, only whether or not he can actually hang with Alvarez’s skills once the bell rings and the punches start flying. But hey, that’s why they fight the fights.