Canelo Alverez says he was ‘crazy’ to step up in weight to face Sergey Kovalev because of his height, but insists Jermell Charlo will be fine with the challenge.
Canelo stepped up two divisions from the middleweight limit of 160lbs to the light heavyweight maximum of 175lbs for his bout with Kovalev.
It was bold move from the Mexican as he was four inches shorter than Kovalev, but it paid off as he dethroned the WBO light heavyweight champion.
Canelo knocked the Russian boxer out in the 11th round of their bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in November 2019.
Canelo stepped up two divisions from the middleweight limit of 160lbs to the light heavyweight maximum of 175lbs for his bout with Sergey Kovalev
It was bold move from the Mexican as he was four inches shorter than Kovalev, but it paid off as he dethroned the WBO light heavyweight champion
Canelo went on to say Jermell Charlo (right) will cope much better with putting on weight than he did against Kovalev
However, on reflection, Canelo says it was ‘crazy’ for him to step up two weight divisions as he’s ‘not that big’.
Speaking about his clash with Kovalev, Canelo said: ‘For me, it was crazy because I’m not that big. But I felt great. I felt strong.’
Canelo went on to say Charlo will cope much better with putting on weight than he did against Kovalev.
He told reports after Wednesday’s press conference: ‘I think he’s gonna do well because he have height and he’s a strong fighter.
‘To do that for me is crazy, right? But I think he’s gonna do better [at] ’54 because maybe he has struggles to make weight at ’54 because he’s big.’
Canelo finished by saying: ‘I don’t know. He took that challenge like I took that challenge before, and that’s it.’
Meanwhile, Charlo told reporters he ‘feels good’ at the new weight and that he should make weight easily on Friday.
He said: ‘Making the weight shouldn’t be an issue. It feels good. I kinda feel it, but I kinda don’t. You still gotta work to make [weight] and come in at the same weight he is.’