By Keith Idec

When Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. agreed to challenge Canelo Alvarez at a catch weight of 164½ pounds, their weigh-in became almost as intriguing as their fight.

Chavez has had well-documented difficulties making weight, even when he competed at the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds. The 31-year-old Chavez (50-2-1, 32 KOs, 1 NC) hasn’t fought at a weight this low since he lost a middleweight title fight to Sergio Martinez 4½ years ago, either.

Chavez’s critics contend that having to get down this low will take too much out of him to be effective against Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) in their 12-round fight Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (HBO Pay-Per-View; $69.99 in HD). On Monday, however, Chavez revealed during a conference call that he already is close to being on weight for their Mexican showdown and will make weight without issue Friday afternoon.

“I’m close to the weight already,” Chavez said through a translator. “I’ve done everything that they’ve asked me to do with regards to my diet. It’s not easy, but I know when I focus on my diet and I focus on making weight, I can do it. I’ve done it before, and this is just another time I’m doing it.”

The 6-feet-1 Chavez claims he still could fight at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds, a belief the former WBC middleweight champion says has been reinforced by how he has been able to make weight reasonably comfortably for the Alvarez fight.

Before accepting the Alvarez fight, the lowest Chavez has weighed since coming in at 158 pounds for the Martinez match in September 2012 was 167½ pounds for his rematch against Bryan Vera in March 2014.

“I always felt that 160 was a possible weight that I could make,” Chavez said. “So when we were discussing this fight, I didn’t think it was an obstacle because I knew if I wanted it and I worked hard enough, I could go to 160. The only difference was I felt it was gonna be a lot of work and it has been a lot of work. Therefore, I never felt like 164½, the weight that we agreed to, I never felt that it wasn’t possible. It was just gonna be a lot of work to get there.”

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