Kovalev made to sweat over weight for Canelo showdown

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez came in slightly under the light-heavyweight limit for his WBO title fight with Sergey Kovalev, who found life a little tougher on the scales.

Bidding to become a world champion at a fourth different weight, Alvarez registered 174.5 pounds ahead of the Las Vegas showdown.

It is comfortably the heaviest the Mexican has ever been for a bout in his professional career, having previously topped out at 167.5 pounds for his super-middleweight bout with Rocky Fielding last December.

"I feel very well, I feel very strong. We will see during the fight how my body reacts, but I believe in my physical strength and my physical capacity," Alvarez told DAZN.

After his emphatic win over Fielding in New York, Canelo dropped back down to middleweight to beat Daniel Jacobs on points in a unification clash.

Now he will leap up two divisions to face Kovalev, a regular campaigner at light-heavy who will have a considerable height advantage over his opponent.

#CaneloKovalev is on!@KrusherKovalev 175 lbs after his fourth try!#WBC #ConquerEverything #Boxing

— World Boxing Council (@WBCBoxing) November 1, 2019

However, the reigning WBO champion was made to work a littler harder than expected at the weigh-in on Friday.

The Russian – nicknamed 'Krusher' – initially came in too heavy at 175.4 pounds, despite stripping naked.

Given an hour to try again, Kovalev did not need too long to shift the required ounces and get down to bang on 175, raising both fists to salute the crowd when the number was read out.