By Jim Dower: World Boxing Organization light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KO’s) is quickly finding out the painful results of being considered the best fighter in the light welterweight division. None of the top fighters are interested in fighting Bradley. Amir Khan, Zab Judah, Marcos Maidana, and even Edwin Valero are thrilled at getting in the ring and trying their luck against Bradley. And who can blame them for not wanting to fight him.
Bradley appears to be the equivalent of Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the light welterweight division. Bradley is so good that few of his opponents are able to do much against him. Granted, Bradley was knocked down twice by Kendall Holt in their bout last year in April, but beyond those two knockdowns, Bradley dominated the other rounds of the fight.
In 2009, Bradley defeated Holt and Lamont Peterson. Bradley also fought former lightweight champion Nate Campbell in August. Their fight resulted in a 3 round no contest. Bradley looked to be on his way to winning that fight after dominating all three rounds.
As good as Bradley is, he may have to move up to the welterweight division if he wants to continue to get fights. The other top light welterweights aren’t in a hurry to face Bradley and thus risk getting beaten and have their market value lowered in doing so. It’s sad, because Bradley needs to be facing the other top fighters in the light welterweight division if he wants to become a mega star like Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, but if the other top fighters in the division are unwilling to fight him, what can he do?
Khan would be a great fight for Bradley. However, there’s no way that Golden Boy Promotions is going to put Khan in with Bradley and face an almost certain loss. It’s not that Bradley is a huge puncher, because he doesn’t hit as hard as some of the big punchers like Maidana, Holt and Ricardo Torres.
However, Bradley has good speed, an excellent inside game and certain sense of toughness that enables him to beat fighters that are bigger and stronger than him. But the harsh reality is that Bradley is probably going to have to move up to welterweight if he wants to get some interesting bouts. He doesn’t have to stay at that weight class, because he can always back and forth depending upon the opponents available, but he needs to seek out fighters from both divisions to ensure that he’s getting the best fights and building his name up.
It’s the same predicament that former welterweight champion Paul Williams found himself in while fighting at welterweight. After being ignored by the other top welterweights after he defeated Antonio Margarito, Williams was finally forced to move up to the light middleweight and then middleweight divisions just to find opponents.
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