LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez considers Dmitry Bivol to be a level above Artur Beterbiev.

The former WBO light heavyweight champion called Bivol boxing’s best 175-pound champion while discussing their upcoming 12-round title fight with a small group of reporters Wednesday at MGM Grand.

“For me,” Alvarez said of Bivol, “he’s the best in the division.”

The unbeaten Bivol owns the WBA 175-pound championship for which they’ll fight Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. The 37-year-old Beterbiev, who has knocked out each of his professional opponents, holds the IBF and WBC titles.

Russia’s Bivol beat Joe Smith Jr., who later won the then-vacant WBO belt Alvarez gave up to move down to the 168-pound division, by unanimous decision in their 12-round fight for Bivol’s belt in March 2019 at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. Smith (28-3, 22 KOs), of Mastic, New York, and the Russian-born Beterbiev (17-0, 17 KOs) will fight for their three light heavyweight titles in a main event ESPN will televise June 18 from Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York.

Mexico’s Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) expects to beat Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) and eventually secure the opportunity to face the Beterbiev-Smith winner for a chance to become boxing’s first fully unified light heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.

“Beterbiev is a strong fighter, a pressure fighter, always goes forward, strong,” Alvarez said. “Bivol is a really good fighter. He has a really good jab, strong, go in and out. He has everything.”

Whereas Beterbiev is one of the sport’s most dangerous knockout artists, the 31-year-old Bivol relies largely on an excellent jab and ring generalship to out-box opponents. Each of his past six fights have gone the 12-round distance, but Alvarez, who is consistently listed as almost a 5-1 favorite, expects a more difficult fight than the odds suggest in their DAZN pay-per-view main event ($59.99 for subscribers; $79.99 for non-subscribers).

“He have everything,” Alvarez said. “He’s a good boxer. He’s strong. He’s a solid champion in 175. And I need to do my best to win this fight because he have stamina for all the rounds, too. So, I need to do my best in this fight because it’s gonna be a difficult fight.”

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