LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez will be heavier inside a boxing ring Saturday night than he was during any of his first 55 professional fights.

The three-division champion expects to weigh no more than 180 pounds, though, when he steps into the ring for his 175-pound title fight against Sergey Kovalev at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Alvarez anticipates a “big difference” between what he’ll weigh and what Kovalev will weigh once the opening bell sounds.

The Mexican icon guessed that Kovalev will weigh “195, 190” come fight night. No matter how much weight Kovalev gains following Friday’s weigh-in, it’s important to Alvarez to avoid adding too much weight before his first fight at the light heavyweight limit.

“I think there’s gonna be a big difference,” Alvarez told a group of reporters before a press conference Wednesday at MGM Grand. “I’m not planning on going up a lot. I feel good at the weight that I’m at, and I wanna go in the ring really strong, fast and ready for anything. Weight is not gonna give me my strength.”

Kovalev stands 6 feet, four inches taller than Alvarez. The WBO 175-pound champion pointed out, however, that Alvarez is enjoying a weight advantage of his own as they prepare to step on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale Friday at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“It doesn’t matter what people will say – like I beat a small guy or not small,” Kovalev said. “Right now, he’s gonna be on the scale [at] 175. I’m gonna be the same, 175. What’s the difference? Just I’m taller. He’s shorter, but wider and stronger. If you’re losing the weight, you’re losing your energy, right? Like me right now, but he’s not [losing weight and energy]. And everything’s like the same right now.”

Russia’s Kovalev estimated that he’ll out-weigh Alvarez by seven to 10 pounds Saturday night. The career-long light heavyweight figures his additional weight will become an advantage only if they go deep into their scheduled 12-rounder.

“If the fight is gonna be all 12 rounds, yes,” Kovalev said. “In the last rounds – like nine, 10, 11, 12, it could be [an advantage]. But like 10 pounds is not a lot, believe me. It’s not 20.”

DAZN will stream the bout between Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs) and Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) as the main event of a nine-bout card. 

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