LAS VEGAS – Jermell Charlo came in just below the super middleweight limit Friday morning for literally and figuratively the biggest fight of his career.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed Charlo stepped on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s scale at 167.4 pounds for his debut in the super middleweight division Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. Canelo Alvarez came in at the exact same weight, 167.4 pounds, for their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event.
Alvarez, 33, and Charlo, also 33, and all undercard fighters scheduled to box Saturday night weighed in behind closed doors Friday morning. Reporters were not permitted to cover the official weigh in, which was held in a room at MGM Grand.
The ceremonial weigh-in is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. PDT on Friday afternoon at Toshiba Plaza, directly outside of T-Mobile Arena. That fan event is open to the public and will be streamed live on Showtime Sports’ YouTube channel.
Houston’s Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs), boxing’s undisputed 154-pound champion, had not officially weighed more than 155¾ pounds for a professional fight before Friday morning.
Guadalajara’s Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) will compete at the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds for the eighth time since December 2019. Alvarez, who has won world titles in four weight classes, is 7-0 in fights contested at the super middleweight maximum of 168 pounds, including four knocks.
The Mexican superstar will defend his IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles against Alvarez.
Charlo can become just the second male boxer during the four-belt era to attain undisputed champion status in two divisions. Terence Crawford, the undisputed welterweight champion, previously fully unified the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles in the 140-pound division.
Most sportsbooks list Alvarez as a 4-1 favorite to beat Charlo, who will end a 16-month layoff largely caused by two fractures in his left hand that he suffered during a sparring session a few days before last Christmas.
The official weights for the three fights on the pay-per-view portion of the Alvarez-Charlo undercard are listed below.
Showtime Pay-Per-View ($84.99)
8 p.m. EDT; 5 p.m. PDT
Jesus Ramos (20-0, 16 KOs), Casa Grande, Arizona, 153.4 pounds vs. Erickson Lubin (25-2, 18 KOs), Orlando, Florida, 153.4 pounds, 12 rounds, junior middleweights.
Yordenis Ugas (27-5, 12 KOs), Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, 147 pounds vs. Mario Barrios (27-2, 18 KOs), San Antonio, 146.8 pounds, 12 rounds for the WBC interim welterweight title.
Elijah Garcia (15-0, 12 KOs), Wittmann, Arizona, 159.6 pounds vs. Armando Resendiz (14-1, 10 KOs), Compostela, Nayarit, Mexico, 159.6 pounds, 10 rounds, middleweights.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Check back for updates on the official weights for the remainder of the Alvarez-Charlo undercard.]
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.