By Alexander Fugate: The junior welterweight division is probably the deepest and most talented in boxing today. Timothy Bradley and Amir Khan have been getting a lot of press lately. Edwin Valero with his 27-0 record with 27 knockouts has been campaigning at lightweight but is expected to move up to junior wellterweight for his next fight. There have been many stories of fighters ducking other fighters in this talent-rich division lately.

It appears Bradley the WBO champion has been complaining of not being able to find an opponent, claiming everyone is scared of him. Devon Alexander fired back saying Bradley is scared of him and forfeited his WBC title in order to avoid him. JBradley is reportedly scheduled to fight on Showtime in June with no opponent announced yet. Campbell would seem a good choice for Bradley. Most feel Bradley was easily handling Campbell. Pair that with Campbell having some name recognition and it could be another easy win for Bradley with a legitimate opponent.

Devon Alexander went on to win the WBC title vacated by Bradley in an August victory over Junior Witter. Alexander is now set to battle IBF champion Juan Urango in a unification bout on March 6. Many fans hope to see the winner face Bradley next, which would unify three of the four major titles at the 140 pound division. The WBA champ is Amir Khan who is expected to make his US debut in his next fight. Pauli Malignaggi appears to be the most likely opponent for that fight. Khan has received a lot of criticism for avoiding the power puncher Marcos Maidana. The WBA has ruled that Khan can make his next defense against anyone, but it appears that after his next fight, Khan will have to fight Maidana or vacate his title. Khan’s chin has been questioned since a 2008 knockout loss to Breidis Prescott.

Khan and Maidana are both accused of ducking Bradley. Knockout artist Edwin Valero is apparently another on that list now. After improving his record to 27-0 with all victories coming by way of knockout Valero’s promoter Bob Arum had publicly expressed interest in matching Valero up with Bradley. Valero has been fighting at 135 but is supposedly going to move up to 140 in his next fight. However, after Bradley’s manager got Bradley to agree to fight Valero in Mexico and got Showtime to agree to hold a date for the fight, Arum couldn’t be contacted and has been silent on the issue since.

Khan, Maidana, and Valero all seem to be ducking Bradley. And Bradley appears to be ducking Devon Alexander. Nate Campbell has also called out Bradley for a rematch. Bradley has been whining that he can’t find any opponents. Campbell is right there and most expect would be an easy Bradley victory. Still Bradley could choose another legitimate opponent for June. After that though, Bradley needs to face the winner of Alexander-Urango. Otherwise he will be just as guilty of ducking as everyone refusing to fight him is.

Khan is supposedly ducking not just Bradley, but Maidana too. If Khan vacates his title for refusing to face Maidana after his next fight, there will be no doubt of him avoiding the best in his division. Hopefully all this ducking and dodging is resolved. Having Bradley face the winner of Alexander-Urango and Khan fight Maidana would make many boxing fans extremely happy. If a Bradley-Alexander/Urango winner fought a Khan-Maidana winner it would determine the best in the division and could make the winner closer to a household name and a PPV attraction. It could also open the door for a fight against either Mayweather or Pacquiao at 147. Right now all of these fighters would no doubt cherish a fight against either of the two biggest superstars in the sport today. However, until they prove they are the best in their own division it’s hard to argue they deserve such a fight and the payday that would come with it.