By Keith Idec

When Canelo Alvarez was either the “B” side or the challenger, he did whatever was necessary to turn the fights he wanted most into realities.

Alvarez agreed when Floyd Mayweather Jr. made him come down two pounds from the junior middleweight limit to fight at a catch weight of 152 pounds in September 2013. Two years later, Alvarez acquiesced again when Miguel Cotto demanded that they contest their WBC middleweight title fight at 155 pounds, five pounds beneath the middleweight limit.

So don’t expect Alvarez to apologize now that he is the undeniable “A” side, the superstar with the leverage to force opponents to do what he wants. The way Alvarez sees it, Chavez shouldn’t complain now that he has accepted their catch weight of 164½ pounds, not to mention the career-high guarantee Chavez will earn Saturday night in Las Vegas (reportedly $6 million).

“We all have to sacrifice something,” Alvarez told Chavez during HBO’s “Faceoff With Max Kellerman,” which debuted recently. “In boxing, we all have to sacrifice something. When I used to fight the smaller boxers he is talking about, I sacrificed myself to be at that weight. And I also gained that weight. Just as I have gained weight for this, I did the same for them.

“When I fought Floyd Mayweather, he set a weight and made me dehydrate myself more than normal. I did it because he was the best. He was the best at that moment, and I wanted to beat the best. I sacrificed money. I sacrificed my body. I sacrificed many things, but that’s the way it is. Now I am, thank God, on this side. And that’s how boxing is. That’s how boxing is and we all know it.”

The 26-year-old Alvarez also noted that while Chavez is coming down to fight at a weight he hasn’t reached in nearly five years, this fight represents real risk for him, too. Alvarez hasn’t fought at a contracted weight higher than 155 pounds during his 11½ -year pro career, 9½ pounds lower than the Chavez fight.

“To do this fight, I did it how it was supposed to be done,” Alvarez said. “I gained 10½ pounds [since his September 17 win against Liam Smith]. Adapted myself to this new weight. Because it’s also a risk for me. It’s a new weight for me. To do this fight, it could’ve only been done this way. I wasn’t going to [fight at 168].

“So to do this fight, I had to be at this weight, right? So I fought with some of the best. And when I have sacrificed myself, I have sacrificed myself with the best. And that’s how it’s been, and that’s the way it is. I am here to fight with anyone. With anyone.”

Alvarez made Amir Khan fight him at a catch weight as well. England’s Khan (31-4, 19 KOs), a natural welterweight, technically moved up two weight classes (one division and one pound) for his 155-pound WBC middleweight title fight against Alvarez, in which Alvarez scored a spectacular sixth-round knockout last May 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

Despite their size difference, the 5-feet-9 Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) is approximately a 6-1 favorite over the 6-feet-1 Chavez (50-2-1, 32 KOs, 1 NC). Their 12-round, non-title fight will headline HBO Pay-Per-View’s four-fight telecast from T-Mobile Arena (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT; $69.99 in HD).

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