In the first Rocky film, Rocky Balboa was picked as a showcase patsy for defending superstar champ Apollo Creed. This Saturday, in the not-always-glamorous real world, Rocky Fielding was picked as a showcase patsy for defending superstar champ Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez.
In the movie, Rocky rose to the occasion and gave Creed a hellacious battle before losing via split decision on the scorecards in ?the greatest exhibition of guts and stamina in the history of the ring.? The real world Rocky, however, will be bound to the realities of the matchup and will likely fulfill his role as fall guy to the star under the bright lights of New York?s historic Madison Square Garden in an ?I told you so? mismatch.
?It?s going to be a long road, a hard road to New York,? Fielding told ESPN at the beginning of camp. ?And when I get there it?s going to be worth it. I just know it.?
Exactly what you?d expect to hear from a starry-eyed underdog who, perhaps naively, thinks that what happens in the ring is all that matters in determining a victor.
In a lot of ways, Rocky Fielding IS Rocky Balboa, or at least a slightly more polished UK version of the fictional Philadelphian.
Fielding has no entourage, no hangers on, and a very simple blue collar lifestyle despite the secondary WBA super middleweight belt around his waist. And even that title belt is lacking in luster as most fans and members of the media recognize Callum Smith, who blew Fielding away in one round back in 2015, as the ?real? WBA super middleweight champ.
The Liverpool-born Fielding is not some stumblebum pug scraped from the bottom of a neighborhood gym. He?s not a fluid fighter by any stretch of the imagination, but he?s alright in overall skill and can even bang a bit to both body and head when given space to fling long punches from his lanky 6? 1? frame.
But he isn?t a world class fighter.
The closest Fielding has come to a true world class win was in his title winning effort in Germany against Tyron Zeuge back in July?and Zeuge, himself, isn?t exactly a proven world class fighter, either.
Meanwhile, Canelo Alvarez IS a world class fighter. Holes may be poked into long stretches of the red-headed Mexican?s r?sum? and accusations of favoritism, both in the judging of his fights and in the matchmaking allowed to him, can be levied, but there should be no denying at this point that the 28-year-old is, indeed, world class.
There?s also no denying that Alvarez is a big money player. Having just signed a five-year, multi-fight deal worth upwards of $365 million with streaming service DAZN, the three-division world champ, who has been a bankable attraction since he was a teenager, has tremendous pull now as the marquee North American presence of a deep-pocketed new broadcast company.
So, realistically, even if Rocky Fielding pulled a Rocky Balboa at MSG this Saturday, he probably still wouldn?t get the decision, just like Rocky Balboa didn?t.
But don?t expect a Rocky-Apollo war this weekend. Don?t expect anything more than a gallant losing effort from Rocky, one which gradually becomes the mismatch most everyone expects and one which ends with an ugly KO (perhaps via thudding body shot?exploiting a real liability in the Brit?s defensive game).
Fielding towers over Alvarez and is fighting in his own division with Alvarez coming in as the naturally smaller fighter. It?s also defending champ vs. challenger. But skill and talent trump size, belt, and optimism (and money trumps everything).
All signs point to this upcoming Rocky story being more about Rocky cashing in his title belt for a big, fat payday than overcoming the odds in a historical upset.
