In his pro career, Alvarez has never fought at more than 155 pounds but on Saturday night he will be carrying extra 10 pounds which may or may not contribute to his power and agility.
For the Chavez fight, Canelo is moving up from 154 to 164.5 while Chavez is moving down to to 164.5 from 168 pounds.
It will be his first fight at 165 pounds which is above the middleweight limit of 160 pounds. Alvarez has been campaigning at the Junior Middleweight limit of 154 pounds.
There is no way of knowing at this time if the extra weight that Alvarez has gained could affect his power and stamina but in most cases it is the speed or agility that suffers.
But Alvarez’ former foe Floyd Mayweather, Jr. may have considered the weight factor in Saturday’s blockbuster fight when he predicted that Alvarez will emerge victorious by way of a knockout win in the late rounds.
“Chavez has a lot of fights under his belt, but not as much experience in big fights as Canelo,” Mayweather said. “He has been in fights with myself, Lara, Miguel Angel Cotto, Shane Mosley.” said Mayweather in a radio show hosted by Stephen Smith.
“I’m looking towards Canelo, late rounds knockout,’ Mayweather added.
Mayweather could be right in his prognosis because Alvarez’ added weight could indeed work in his favor. Still, the usual outcome of weight gain has something to do with reduced speed or agility. Hopefully the extra weight will give him more power while maintaining his speed.
Chavez, who is taller and bigger than Alvarez, is expected to capitalize on possible reduction on Alvarez’ mobility in the ring on account of the huge 10-pound weight gain by using his superior height and size.
“On of my advantages is that [Alvarez] has fought a lot of fighters not in their prime,” Chavez said. “Also he’s a smaller fighter. He’s a good fighter but smaller for his division and I think that’s an advantage that I have,” he added.
But more than the advantage that he has, Chavez has reportedly trained very hard for this fight under Nacho Berestain, who is a famous Mexican trainer. Chavez is noted for skipping training sessions in the past and not giving his best in previous training camps which contributed to his anemic performance in the ring.
If it is true that he has indeed trained hard for this fight and with his superior size and height advantage over Alvarez, he may just pull off the upset Saturday night as many boxing experts have predicted.
