By Barry Holbrook: Former WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight champion Rocky Fielding announced his retirement today at 35, ending his 13-year professional career.
In his prime, Fielding (30-3, 18 KOs) was a quality fighter and one of the best at 168, but his inactivity in recent years hurt his ability to stay relevant.
Fielding lost to Dan Azeez by an eighth round knockout last month on December 17th in a failed effort to capture the British light heavyweight title.
Whatever chance Fielding had of winning, he threw it out the window by spending most of the fight with his back against the ropes.
It’s not a big shock that Fielding has decided to hang up his gloves, as he’d fought largely no one of note since losing his WBA ‘regular’ 168-lb title to Canelo Alvarez by a third round knockout in December 2018.
Some would argue that Fielding, for all intents and purposes, retired after his defeat against Canelo because he didn’t show the same motivation after that defeat.
The loss to Canelo seemed to take a lot of the wind out of the sails of Fielding, because he did nothing from that point on, choosing to face little-known opposition instead of the contenders he’d been fighting before his defeat. It’s unclear if Fielding made life-changing money in his fight with Canelo.
If so, that would explain the uninspired approach that Fielding took to his career after the Canelo fight. Assuming that Fielding is set for life from the Canelo money, it makes sense for him to retire now because the paydays he’s getting for his subsequent fights pale in comparison.
After that fight, Fielding played it safe, beating the following obscure fighters: Abdallah Paziwapaz, Emmanuel Danso, and Timo Laine. When Fielding finally did step it up again in a fight with Azeez (18-0, 12 KOs), he was overmatched and easily beaten by the 175-lb contender.
What a journey. Thank you to Boxing for all the memories. Thank you to everyone for the support and everyone that’s been apart of it. 🙏🏼❤️ pic.twitter.com/wDD6fAS0Hi
— Rocky Fielding (@Rocky87Fielding) January 12, 2023
If Fielding doesn’t make a comeback, as we see with many fighters, he’ll be remembered for these fights:
- Canelo Alvarez – TKO 3 loss
- John Ryder – SD 12 win
- Callum Smith – TKO 1 loss
- Tyron Zeuge – TKO 5 win
- Luke Blackledge – KO 1 win
- Christopher Rebrassé – SD 12 win
- Charles Adamu – UD 12 win
- Brian Vera – TKO 2
It’s too bad Fielding didn’t work his way back into position for a rematch with Canelo, as Ryder, a fighter he beat, is now poised to get a massive payday against the Mexican star in May.