The recent announcement of Canelo Alvarez moving up in weight to fight WBA “regular” super middleweight titleholder Rocky Fielding on December 15 came as a surprise to many, but it has been something in the works for weeks according to Eddie Hearn.
Hearn, Fielding’s promoter, spoke to IFL TV and gave the details on how the fight came about. Hearn said it started about two weeks prior to the announcement when Golden Boy Promotions President Eric Gomez called Hearn to talk about a possible fight between Alvarez and Fielding. Both Fielding and Hearn quickly took the opportunity for the super middleweight champion to travel to the United States and have quite possibly the most lucrative fight of his career.
“To be honest, it was a very quick deal. Eric Gomez called me probably two weeks ago and said, ‘We’re interested in fighting Rocky Fielding. [Canelo] would like to step up to super middleweight and try to win a title up there.’ It was a massive opportunity for Rocky and grabbed it with both hands. What a chance, it’s a chance of a lifetime, to be involved in a fight like that. I’m so pleased for him,” Hearn said.
Now that the fight is official, one of the first questions that was immediately asked was whether or not the fight would get streamed on DAZN in the United States due to the streaming platform’s relationship with Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing company. Hearn said Golden Boy Promotions has the final say when it comes to the U.S. broadcast and added that DAZN is in the running to get the fight.
“The U.S. broadcast hasn’t been announced yet. We’re in the race as everyone is. It’s on Sky Sports in the U.K. We’ll let Golden Boy deal with [picking a U.S. broadcast platform]. We’ll have talks with Golden Boy and again, we’re in the race to get that fight as every other broadcaster is in America,” Hearn said.
The fight will have Alvarez move up to fight above 160 pounds for the second time in his career and it will take place at Madison Square Garden.
