By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
During his post-fight interview following Saturday night's 12-round, unanimous victory decision over previously unbeaten welterweight (147 pounds), Luis Carlos Abregu, WBO junior welterweight (140 pounds) champion, Tim Bradley (pictured above, at left), stared into the HBO television cameras and called out several potential opponents.
"I'm making the challenge right now," said Bradley, who rose to 26-0 with 11 knockouts at Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, Calif., near his hometown of Palm Springs, Calif. "Manny Pacquiao, come break down this wall, baby. Manny, come break down this wall."
The 26-year-old Bradley is considered the premiere fighter in a deep and talented 140-pound weight class that includes Missouri's 23-year-old southpaw WBC and IBF champion Devon Alexander (20-0, 13 KOs), England's 23-year-old WBA king Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KOs), and, Argentina's 26-year-old WBA interim champ Marcos Rene Maidana (28-1, 27 KOs).
And he left few of them out.
"Anybody. Any of the top guys out there. Especially you, Devon Alexander," said Bradley, who dropped the hard-hitting Abregu of Salta, Salta,
Argentina to 29-1 with 23 KOs. "If everything is alright, and the money's right, everything is lined up, I'll fight you next. You, Devon, Maidana, and Khan. I'll fight all of them. I'm a throwback fighter, baby, I'll fight all of them."
On Sunday, Alexander answered his challenge. And on Monday, Khan did the same.
"The time has come. You have pretended to be the best at 140 while everyone knows, Alexander is the true king of the division," Team Alexander wrote in a statement. "The difference between Alexander and Bradley is, Bradley wants to beg for an opportunity with the great fighters; Devon wants to beat the best fighters in his division and earn the right to fight the great fighters."
Bradley is hoping for an HBO-televised Jan. 29 bout opposite Alexander, which would take place the day before the NFL's 2011 Super Bowl. But Alexander has an HBO-televised Aug. 7, second defense of his WBC title -- and the first of his IBF crown -- against former WBA titlist Andriy Kotelnik (31-3-1, 13 KOs) before his hometown fans in St. Louis, Mo.
Alexander intends to defeat Kotelnik
"Boxing fans want to see the best fight the best, and the two fights they want most are Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao, and Devon Alexander vs. Tim Bradley," Team Alexander's statement read.
"HBO wants to make the fight, so Team Bradley, stop making cowardly moves stand up and fight," read the statement. "Your own fans are tired of your excuses.On Aug. 7, Devon will put on an explosive performance against Kotelnik, and then, Bradley will have nowhere to hide."
Coming off of a May 15, 11th-round knockout of Paulie Malignaggi (27-5, five KOs), Khan also publicly demanded a shot at Bradley -- "Next."
Khan issued a statement on his Twitter page challenging Bradley perhaps in the fall, and said that he would speak to his promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, about the prospect of doing so. Golden Boy CEO, Richard Schaefer, has told FanHouse that HBO has reserved the date of Dec. 11 for Khan's potential return.
"I'll fight Tim Bradley. It's the first time he's called me out. I'm going to Vegas and I'll talk to Golden Boy. I would love the fight," said Khan, who could fight in England or the United States in the fall. "Good style for me. I'm fighting Timothy Bradley next. I'm gonna tell Golden Boy. Let's see if they want it for real. Talk is cheap."
Khan will be at ringside for a July 31 bout between WBO and WBA lightweight (135 pounds) king Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 knockouts) and Juan Diaz (35-3, 17 KOs) in a rematch of their February, 2009, Fight of The Year won by Marquez via ninth-round knockout. Khan is a consideration for Marquez if Marquez wins.
Bradley's promoter,Gary Shaw, likes both the Khan and the Alexander fights, but would also throw in Maidana, and, contender, Victor Ortiz (27-2-1, 21 KOs) of Oxnard, Calif.
"Personally, I would rather fight Khan (pictured at right) first, and here is my reasoning. Khan has a loss, Maidana has a loss, Ortiz has a loss. And two of the three are from outside of the United States. Devon Alexander is an American fighter with an unblemished record. Tim Bradley is an American fighter with an unblemished record. So, I say, let Timmy fight Khan or Maidana, and let Devon Alexander fight Khan or Maidana, and then let the two winners meet, which was my idea all along," said Shaw.
"I was called by a radio station about Khan's Twitter message, and I immediately e-mailed Richard Schaefer and said, this is what you're fighter is saying," said Shaw. "I sent an e-mail not only to Richard, but to [HBO's president of sports] Ross Greenburg as well. I got back an e-mail from Richard saying, 'I will talk to Amir.'"
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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