LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez stood on the scales Friday outside T-Mobile Arena decked out in a wave of red, white and green flags as Mariachi took off in full force.
For the first time in three years, Alvarez will compete in Las Vegas this weekend on Cinco de Mayo, the date and venue usually reserved for boxing’s top superstar.
When Canelo defeated Daniel Jacobs here in May 2019, he retained his 160-pound championship by unanimous decision. Three years later, he weighed in at 174.4 pounds, the second heaviest of his career, before challenging for the light heavyweight title on Saturday against Russia’s Dmitry Bevol (8 pm EST, DAZN Show).
Bivol, the second ESPN lightweight champion, weighed in at 174.6 pounds.
“My best weight is 168… but I also feel great at 175,” said Alvarez, ESPN’s No. 1 middleweight. “I feel powerful”.
The ceremonial weigh-in on Friday afternoon was preceded by an official weigh-in this morning behind closed doors.
Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) will try to become a two-time light heavyweight champion after his November 2019 KO victory over Sergei Kovalev at 175 lbs. After that fight, Álvarez relinquished his light heavyweight title to take home £168.
This time, Alvarez, 31, can keep the belt for a while. But if he beats the 31-year-old Bevol, his next fight is already set at 168 pounds: defending the undisputed super middleweight championship against Gennady Golovkin.
Golovkin and Alvarez have already met twice at £160: the 2017 draw and the 2018 majority win for Alvarez.
Canelo, ESPN’s number one fighter, has expressed interest in fighting for the undisputed light heavyweight championship in 2023. A fight with the winner of the three-belt unification on June 18 between Artur Petterbiev and Joe Smith will lead to the victory. a job.
However, Alvarez should first come back against Bevol (19-0, 11 KOs), and he is a 5-1 favorite to do so, according to Caesars Sportsbook.
“I think I have enough experience and enough strength, speed and boxing quality to fight the best,” Bevol said. “…I don’t think they avoided me. It’s probably not an interesting fight because they don’t know me yet. I know it worked. Good. It’s okay. No problem. But now I’m in the fight.” .»
