ROCKY’S FIELD OF DREAMS
ROCKY FIELDING admits he feels like a lower-league footballer called up to play for England ahead of his clash with Saul Alvarez at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
The 31-year-old Scouser is an unlikely choice as Canelo’s first opponent after the Mexican superstar put pen to paper on a mouth-watering £280million, 11-fight deal with streaming service DAZN.
But the WBA world supermiddleweight belt Fielding won in July is on the line and, with Canelo stepping up to the division for the first time, the Liverpudlian reckons he was just in the right place at the right time.
“I nearly bit back to start with but then I thought better of it,” said Fielding, when asked about those who scoffed when the fight was announced.
“It’s like a kid playing for a lower-league team getting a call from the England manager asking if he wants to play for England at Wembley.
“What’s he going to say: ‘No’? “Eddie Hearn will tell you, every fight he offers me I take.
“I’ve got to look after my family and I said yes even before I was told the purse.
“Maybe he thinks he can take me on and wants to be able to make history for himself by moving up to fight for a world title, and I’m the one who’s available.”
The glamour of headlining at New York’s Madison Square Garden is not lost on a man who grew up wanting to do just that. But his preparation has been far from glitzy with his two children — Ralphy, 2, and Romy, 12 weeks — keeping him grounded.
Fielding added: “My daughter is 12 weeks old and I’ve been in a training camp for 10 weeks.
“So I haven’t held her properly or been out pushing the pram, doing the little things.
“But when I’m slugging it out and things are getting tough I just think: ‘Everything is for the kids.’
“Every punch I throw now is for their future.
“When it’s going tough in a session I have a little think about why I’m doing it, what I’m getting up for and why I’m putting myself through it.”