Rocky Fielding: I’m in it to win it against Canelo

Canelo Alvarez is set to face WBA “world” super middleweight champion Rocky Fielding on December 15, an announcement that knocked a lot of people back when it was made last week.

For most, it seems like it’s Alvarez (50-1-2, 34 KO) looking for the best way to claim a world title in a third weight class, a fight he’ll win going away.

Fielding (27-1, 15 KO) seems to understand and accept that he’ll be seen as the big underdog here, but says he’s coming to NYC to win:

“Yes, it’s Canelo and yes, it’s at Madison Square Garden but I wouldn’t take it if I didn’t think I could beat him. He’s moving up from middleweight, I am big super middleweight, I’ve got the height and the reach so I am up against a tough fighter, one of the elite fighters, but I’ve got to be in it to win it. … I want to keep my title. I’ve worked towards winning it, now I am working on defending it, regardless of who it’s against and where. I want to defend it as much as possible and this is just the first.”

If Fielding is to have any shot at the upset, the positive attitude is the first step. And he does have physical advantages, and he almost certainly will not turn in the complete non-performance that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr did when Canelo fought above 160 the other time in his career. This is a massive opportunity for Fielding — that can’t be said enough — and if he can so much as make a question of it by the end, he’ll have succeeded in making himself a bigger star.