By Chris Williams: In an article by Michael Rosenthal at Ringtv.com, WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KO’s) calls WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) “the most-protected fighter out there at 140.” Ouch! That’s got to hurt. Bradley, 26, faces unbeaten Luis Carlos Abregu (29-0, 23 KO’s) this Saturday night at the Agua Caliente Casino and Resort, in Rancho Mirage, California.

Bradley is looking to get the big fights and take on the some of the biggest stars in the sport, as long as he can get by the hard-hitting Abregu on Saturday. Khan 23, is a fighter that Bradley has been wanting to fight for some time. But he sees Khan as being protected fight now by his promotional company and being kept away from fighters with power.

Bradley says “They’re putting non-punchers in the ring with him [Khan], which is cool. I’ll let them do their thing. But sooner or later he has to step up to the plate and fight a real fighter.” Bradley is right. Sooner or later, Khan’s handlers have to put him in with a life body or else Khan will end up being stripped of his title.

Unfortunately, by the time that Khan is finally put in with a live body, that live body may actually be someone like Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao, unless you count Khan being matched against a smaller lightweight like Juan Manuel Marquez or Juan Diaz, either of which Khan could be fighting next later on the year. Fighting a small lightweight isn’t quite the same as fighting someone from Khan’s own weight class, someone that can fight well at the weight and has good power.

Marquez is an excellent fighter, but he’s not a light welterweight and he is pretty maxed out in terms of ability at lightweight. Bradley, who some boxing fans consider to be the best fighter in the light welterweight division, will probably have to wait a long time before he can get a fight against Khan, because he’s probably going to be going after Marquez next and who knows after that.

It’s possible Khan could opt to take on more lightweights after the Marquez or Diaz fight because WBO lightweight interim champion Michael Katsidis would still be available in the lightweight division and he would likely love to fight Khan if he was to get paid enough to do it.

Bradley is looking to beat Abregu on Saturday, then fight on the same card as IBF/WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander vs. Andriy Kotelnik later on this year. From there, as long as both Bradley and Alexander win, Bradley would then like to fight Alexander later next year. He doesn’t want to fight Alexander now because there probably won’t be the same kind of money now compared to if they were to fight next year after both of them have won their last fights