SAN ANTONIO – Canelo Alvarez is well aware that about all Callum Smith and Rocky Fielding have in common is that both British boxers are much taller than him.

The Mexican superstar acknowledged after a press conference Thursday that he’ll encounter a much more formidable fighter when he enters the ring Saturday night at Alamodome than when he obliterated Fielding two years ago at Madison Square Garden in New York. Alvarez tore through the 6-feet-1 Fielding in his 168-pound debut, in which he floored Fielding four times on his way to a third-round stoppage.

The 30-year-old Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) drew some criticism at that time because Fielding held the WBA’s secondary super middleweight title. Fielding (28-2, 16 KOs) also had been stopped in the first round by Smith (27-0, 19 KOs), the WBA’s legitimate 168-pound champion, three years earlier.

The ambitious Alvarez always felt, though, that he would eventually encounter the 6-feet-3 Smith, mostly because he considers the undefeated Liverpool native the best boxer in their division, other than himself.

“He’s totally different [than Fielding],” Alvarez told BoxingScene.com. “He’s a fighter with more qualities. He’s stronger. He likes to hit the body a lot. He has a really nice counter punch. He’s totally different.”

Alvarez’s opinion of Smith made him choose Smith for this fight more than wanting to legitimize himself as a four-division champion.

“He’s number one at 168,” Alvarez said. “If you see all the rankings all over the world, he’s number one. So, because of that, because of [how] I wanna move forward, that says everything.”

Smith’s size advantage was very evident when they stood face to face following Thursday’s press conference at the Grand Hyatt hotel. He stands seven inches taller than the stout Alvarez, but boxing’s biggest active star still is listed as at least a 5-1 favorite by most sports books to win their 12-round, 168-pound title fight.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Alvarez said of Smith’s height edge. “It doesn’t make me feel anything different. I have the qualities to be able to work with all of that. On the contrary, it generates more motivation. I like it.”

DAZN will stream Alvarez-Smith in more than 200 countries, including the United States and United Kingdom, as the main event of an eight-fight card. Their fight also will be the main event of a four-fight pay-per-view show in the United States ($69.99). 

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