‘Canelo’ to defend title at higher weight
He plans Dec. 15 bout vs. Fielding in 168-pound division
It didn’t take long for Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to announce his next fight.
Fresh off his narrow middleweight victory over Gennady Golovkin, Alvarez is moving up to the 168-pound division to challenge WBA “regular” champion Rocky Fielding on Dec. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“With a lot of excitement, I announce my next fight for this upcoming Dec. 15 in New York’s MSG,” Alvarez tweeted Friday in Spanish. “I’m taking on another challenge in my career. I’m representing the WBC as the 160-pound champion, and now I’ll fight for the 168-pound world title versus Rocky Fielding, the ‘regular’ champion for the WBA.”
Golden Boy Promotions, Alvarez’s promoter, hasn’t officially announced the bout. A Golden Boy official said details will be figured out shortly, including which network will air the fight.
Alvarez’s HBO contract expired after the Sept. 15 majority decision over Golovkin at T-mobile Arena. HBO announced last week that it’s dropping boxing from its programming in 2019, but the premium network didn’t rule out adding more events this year.
Fielding is promoted by Eddie Hearn, who recently launched the combat sports streaming service DAZN in the United States.
It’s no surprise that Alvarez, 28, is making a quick return. He wanted to fight a second time in 2018 after not fighting in May because of his sixmonth suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission stemming from two failed drug tests in February.
The opponent does come as a surprise. Golden Boy Promotions flirted with the idea of former middleweight champion David Lemieux being Alvarez’s first title defense.
With such a short turnaround, it’s possible Alvarez didn’t feel comfortable making the 160-pound limit and opted for a one-time jump to super middleweight.
The Mexican superstar will be a heavy favorite over the British secondary champion. Fielding, 31, has 27 victories with 15 knockouts. In his only loss, he was knocked out in the first round by Callum Smith, the true WBA champion.
Alvarez (50-1-2, 34 knockouts) has fought over 160 pounds once in his career. He recorded a unanimous decision last year against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a 164.5 catchweight bout at T-mobile Arena.
Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ Gmanzano24 on Twitter.