30 lBOXING NEWSlJULY 25, 2019 http://www.boxingnewsonline.net
➤ on an undercard somewhere. But that’s just boxing
and that’s what I’ve got to accept because I could have
been in a worse position.”
He was a real life Rocky story - in this reality, Rocky
didn’t overcome the odds to perform better than
expected against the big star. Events in fact unfolded
true to form. In the ring the impact of being hit
so hard by Alvarez had sent Fielding reeling to his
knees, dazed, with a faint grin on his face. He has
been mocked for that goofy expression but
in reality he was just stunned. “I went down.
Just my shock,” he explained. “No one’s daft
enough to smile because they got hit.
“I made mistakes
and I paid. That’s
what happens when
you’re at that level. I
got stick from people
thinking I was smiling
and happy about it.
It was me just going,
that was a good shot,
do you know what I
mean?”
“One shot got me. F**king hell, I wasn’t happy that
I lost. I went back to the changing room and it was a
totally different thing. I was devastated.”
As hard a puncher as Canelo Alvarez is, as good a
boxer as he is, losing at Madison Square Garden in
front of so many people is a humbling experience,
even if Rocky was well compensated for that bout.
“The hard part now is investing it and using it. That’s
the pressure. For the kids, to invest well,” he says.
“Take the purse away and whatever else. I just needto get back in, get back to winning ways and not being
known for going a couple of rounds with Canelo.”
“It was an experience. I give him the opportunities
and you can’t do that with that level of fighter,” he
added. “I was down most of it but I can still learn
from it, I can still pick up on things and take it to
the next fight with me and keep going and see what
opportunities come now.
“It happened. I’m not going to dwell on it.”
Fielding is not the only Briton to be laid
low at the Garden. Anthony Joshua was
stopped there after seven brutal rounds with
the unheralded Andy Ruiz. Amir Khan knows
exactly what it’s like
to be a star Olympian,
a UK favourite
who then suffers
a shocking defeat
to an underdog. It
happened to him in
2008 when Breidis
Prescott knocked
him out. “It’s a very
dark place when you
get beat and it doesn’t get any easier when only a
handful of people stay with you,” Khan said. “People
stop answering you. The big contracts leave you. I had
contracts with like Reebok that were paying me a lot,
a lot of money. They washed their hands and said see
you later. It happens too quick. That’s why boxing is
the hardest sport.”
“With me I lost friends. Friends who were big
supporters of mine turned round saying I was
finished,” he continued. “You lose in boxing, theyOUTCLASSED:
Alvarez
wastes no
time in
beating
Fielding
Photos:
ED MULHOLLAND/
MATCHROOMONE SHOT GOT ME. F**KING
HELL, I WASN’T HAPPY
THAT I LOST. I WENT BACK
TO THE CHANGING ROOM
AND I WAS DEVASTATED”