LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez came in at almost exactly the same weight Friday as he did for his only other light heavyweight bout.

Guadalajara’s Alvarez was officially 174.4 pounds for his 12-round, 175-pound title fight against unbeaten WBA champion Dmitry Bivol on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. Bivol, of St. Petersburg, Russia, stepped on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale slightly heavier than Alvarez, at 174.6 pounds, on a makeshift stage outside of T-Mobile Arena.

Alvarez, 31, officially weighed a few ounces more, 174½ pounds, for his first light heavyweight title fight, an 11th-round knockout of Russia’s Sergey Kovalev in November 2019 at nearby MGM Grand Garden Arena. Whereas the 5-foot-8 Alvarez’s previous four fights were contested at the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds, the 6-foot Bivol, who is also 31, has boxed at or just above the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds throughout his 7½-year pro career.

Their height difference and experience within this division notwithstanding, Caesars Sportsbook still lists Alvarez as more than a 5-1 favorite to beat Bivol in their DAZN pay-per-view main event.

Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) is expected to fight nemesis Gennadiy Golovkin (42-1-1, 36 KOs) in their long-awaited third fight if he beats Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs). The completion of their trilogy would take place at their super middleweight limit of 168 pounds, eight pounds higher than their first two fights, on September 17 at a venue to be determined.

If Alvarez were to lose to Bivol, however, he has a rematch clause in his contract that he could immediately exercise.

DAZN pay-per-view

$59.99 for subscribers; $79.99 for non-subscribers

8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT

Montana Love (17-0-1, 9 KOs), Cleveland, 140 pounds vs. Gabriel Valenzuela (25-2-1, 15 KOs), Guadalajara, Mexico, 138.6 pounds, 12 rounds, junior welterweights.

Shakhram Giyasov (12-0, 9 KOs), Bukhara, Uzbekistan, 146.6 pounds vs. Christian Gomez (22-2-1, 20 KOs), Guadalajara, Mexico, 146 pounds, 10 rounds, welterweights.

Marc Castro (6-0, 5 KOs), Fresno, California, 134.8 pounds vs. Pedro Scharbaai (7-4-1, 2 KOs), Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, 134.8 pounds, 8 rounds, lightweights.

Zhang Zhilei (23-0-1, 18 KOs), Zhoukou, China, 276.2 pounds vs. Scott Alexander (16-4-2, 8 KOs), Los Angeles, 222.6 pounds, 10 rounds, heavyweights.

DAZN

4:40 p.m. ET; 1:40 p.m. PT

Joselito Velazquez (14-0-1, 9 KOs), West Covina, California, 112.4 pounds vs. Jose Soto (15-1, 6 KOs), Canalete, Colombia, 113.8 pounds, 10 rounds, super flyweights.

Alexis Espino (9-0-1, 6 KOs), Las Vegas, 163.6 pounds vs. Aaron Silva (9-0, 6 KOs), Monterrey, Mexico, 164.4 pounds, 8 rounds, super middleweights.

Elnur Abduraimov (8-0, 7 KOs), Gazalkent, Uzbekistan, 129.6 pounds vs. Manuel Correa (11-0, 7 KOs), Miami, 128.6 pounds, 8 rounds, junior lightweights.

Fernando Molina (7-0, 3 KOs), Guadalajara, Mexico, 139.6 pounds vs. Ricardo Valdovinos (8-1, 5 KOs), San Diego, 139.4 pounds, 6 rounds, junior welterweights.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.