Canelo Alvarez steps into the ring on Saturday night for the first time since he beat Gennady Golovkin in September to become the unified middleweight champion.
Alvarez is already a two-weight world champion, having claimed the WBC light middleweight belt back in 2011, and he now steps up to super middleweight to challenge Rocky Fielding for the WBA title.
The Mexican is arguably the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world after seeing off GGG, and, while the outcome of that fight was controversial, there’s no doubt it was an impressive performance.
With names like Shane Mosley, Erislandy Lara, Miguel Cotto and Amir Khan on his record, the 28-year-old is clearly a class above Fielding and is unsurprisingly a big favourite on Saturday night.
This could be a tricky fight for Alvarez, though, due to Fielding’s size advantage.
The Liverpudlian is four inches taller than his opponent, and can make it an awkward night by using his jab and maintaining distance.
Fielding won the WBA belt with a fifth-round stoppage win over Tyron Zeuge in July, and he’s now won six successive fights since Callum Smith knocked him out in 2015.
He’s never been in with a fighter of Alvarez’s ability, though, and it’s hard to see how he can hold on to his title here.
Expect Fielding to start well, but eventually the accumulation of punches should build up from the quicker, more technical challenger.
A stoppage win for Canelo is a bit short at .
Visit Betway’s boxing betting page.
