By James Slater: Slowly but surely we are finding out who the world’s number-one light-welterweight is. Last night in Detroit, the unbeaten Tim Bradley remained that way with his technical points win over a disappointing Devon Alexander, and we now look ahead to an even bigger unification clash in the summer – between Bradley, now the WBO and WBC ruler, and Amir Khan, the WBA champ.
This is the fight the fans want, but there could be a problem in that the beaten Alexander says he will enforce the rematch clause he has and face “Desert Storm” for a second time. In truth, not too many people, Alexander fans aside, want to see a return between the two. The styles of the two men didn’t really gel, and on top of that, Alexander looked like he wanted to quit when the opportunity arose. Sure, Bradley has something of a rep when it comes to lunging in when he attacks, with head clashes occurring as a result, but Alexander was as guilty when it came to lunging in last night; certainly during the key head-clash in that 10th and final round anyway.
Alexander, who lost his unbeaten record as well as his belt, may have also lost some of his attraction as a fighter. Simply put, “The Great” was too negative last night, he allowed himself to be bullied and he was not as mentally strong as Bradley was. Does anyone really think the 23-year-old southpaw would do any better in a rematch?
Hopefully, we will get to see three of the 140-pound belts come together in the summer. Khan, who was a studio guest on Sky Sports last night, was a very interested observer of the WBO/WBC clash. The 24-year-old, still glowing from that great win over Marcos Maidana (who may wind up facing Alexander next), said he has much respect for Bradley, but that he feels the Palm Springs man is beatable.
Khan said that had he been Alexander, he would have taken a step back whenever Bradley came in with a attack and then countered; perhaps with a right uppercut. “I think that would have been goodnight,” Khan said. The WBA ruler also said that he will be wary of Bradley’s head if and when he fights him. “I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on that,” he said, referring to the new WBC/WBO champ’s shaven dome.
Khan also mentioned the fact that Bradley himself said recently that he’d love to come to England to fight Khan. “What a fight that would be for the English fans,” Khan said enthusiastically.
So, is this the fight we will se in the summer, say July time? Khan, who still has that April 16th date to take care of (still no opponent named, but Khan said last night that he wants that all sorted within a week – the names talked about last night being John Murray, Michael Katsidis, Breidis Prescott, Victor Ortiz and Lamont Peterson), said he must have the fight before the Ramadam religious holiday begins. That would make July perfect. Khan would have three months between his April fight and the big one with Bradley, while Bradley wouldn’t be too concerned at having to wait six months for the Khan fight.
For now, Bradley, who improved to 27-0(11), can enjoy his biggest pro win to date. However, “Desert Storm” won’t be in any way satisfied until he beats Khan, unifies the light-welterweight division and then gets a mega-mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao. “That’s the key,” Bradley said.
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