In front of a sold-out crowd of 20,112 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, WBC, WBA, Lineal and Ring Magazine Middleweight World Champion Canelo Álvarez moved up a weight class and took down Rocky Fielding via third-round stoppage to claim the WBA World Super Middleweight title and join an elite group of three-division Mexican world champions.
The main card bouts featured a fifth-round knockout by Ryan Garcia, a comeback-trail victory for Brooklyn’s Sadam Ali and an impressive title defense by IBF Super Featherweight champ Tevin Farmer. Earlier in the evening, IBF & WBA Female Lightweight Champion Katie Taylor shut out undefeated Eva Wahlstrom.
Post-fight ringside quotes, as well as the main card’s results are below.
Canelo Álvarez
On his body attack strategy towards Rocky: “That was the plan in the gym, to hit the body and then move up, and that’s the result. You see the result here.”
How’d he feel at 168? “Very good, very strong. I didn’t have to dehydrate myself to make weight. I feel good and I feel strong.”
Will he go back to 160 or stay at 168? “We’ll have to see. I have to talk to my team, enjoy the holiday and then I’ll talk to my team. But right now, without a doubt, what I want are the best fights.”
What’s your goal right now at this level of your career? “My goal is to make good fights for the people, for the public, and to make sure the name of Canelo Álvarez and of Mexico is held up high.”
Is being an undisputed champion important to him? “What I always want to do is to make the best fight whether they’re for world titles or not. Right now what I can tell you is that I just want to make the best fights for the public.”
Is GGG settled? “For me, I feel like on September 15, I showed that I was best. But it was two great fights and if the people want it, we can make it.”
On his first MSG fight: “I’m happy and I’m grateful to be here. I hope this is the first of many.”
