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Steve KimESPN
Rocky Fielding, who lost to Canelo Alvarez last December, got back to his winning ways Friday with a second-round knockout of Abdallah Paziwapazi at the Olympia in Liverpool, England.
The 32-year-old Fielding (28-2, 16 KOs), for stretches, fought with his back on the ropes, and he let Tanzania’s Paziwapazi (26-7-1, 23 KOs) come forward. Paziwapazi, meanwhile, tried to follow Alvarez’s game plan, attacking Fielding’s body, but he didn’t have nearly the same success.
Alvarez used a committed body attack to drop Fielding four times last December at Madison Square Garden.
Late in the second round, Fielding launched a four-punch salvo that was punctuated with a left hook that sent Paziwapazi to the canvas on his back. Referee Steve Gray waved off the fight at 2:58 of the round, after Paziwapazi had gotten back up but was unable to beat the count.
“I felt fine,” Fielding said afterward. “I knew he was going to come out swinging. He had some power behind him, and he was going to see what he could get. I took a few shots that I probably shouldn’t have. Maybe that woke me up.”
Fielding’s only two losses are to Alvarez and current WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith, who stopped him in the first round in 2015.
Fielding made it very clear what he wants heading into 2020.
“Just big fights, hopefully,” he said. “I think I’m back in the mix now. Any of the top five … the top ones.”