By Jim Dower: Timothy Bradley (26-0, 11 KO’s) was successful in his first fight at welterweight on Saturday night, defeating the previously unbeaten power-punching welterweight contender Luis Carlos Abregu (29-1, 23 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Agua Caliente Casino, in Rancho Mirage, California. The final judges’ scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112. After the fight, Bradley, 26, mentioned wanting to fight Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana and Devon Alexander.

Basically, Bradley called out the top fighters in the light welterweight division and added Pacquiao along with them for some reason. However, Bradley looked anything but impressive in defeating Abregu in an awkward-looking fight where Bradley was hit quite a bit by Abregu. Bradley was supposed to be trying to make a case for himself to be considered as a possible future opponent for Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

I think Bradley failed in proving that he belongs in the same ring with either of them right now. At times, Bradley looked little better than Abregu, taking a lot of punishment in grinding out the 12 round decision. Bradley showed little in the way of power, and that’s going to be a problem when he is eventually matched against some of the better welterweights in the division.

Bradley didn’t impress enough for Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, to put him in with Pacquiao. Right now, I’d rather see Maidana in with Pacquiao rather than Bradley, because at least he looks exciting every time out compared to Bradley, who is more of a finesse fighter.

Bradley did show a good work rate against Abregu, as he attacked him constantly in every round. But, Bradley was getting hit a lot by Abregu last Saturday night, and it wasn’t nearly as impressive as watching a typical Pacquiao or Mayweather fight. Bradley would stand zero chance of beating either Pacquiao or Mayweather, unless he improves a great deal in the near future.

Bradley needs to forget about Mayweather and Pacquiao, and focus on trying to get fights and wins over Alexander, Maidana, Khan and Victor Ortiz. If Bradley can beat all those guys, then and only then do I see it even worth considering putting him in with Pacquiao or Mayweather. Of course, I think Bradley would still get totally dominated by Mayweather and Pacquiao, but I think he would at least deserve to be in with the same ring.

In a much more interesting fight on the card, light middleweight contender Alfredo Angulo (19-1, 16 KO’s) stopped former World Boxing Association light middleweight champion Joachim Alcine (32-2, 19 KO’s) in the 1st round in a WBC light middleweight title eliminator.

Alcine, 34, who’s not a big puncher, came out looking to slug with Angulo and found himself in immediate trouble when he was hurt by a left-right combination from Angulo. And instead of staying in the center of the ring, Alcine retreated to the ropes where Angulo came charging forward, pouring power shots in.

Alcine still tried to trade with Angulo, and was throwing power shots of his own when he was hurt again by a big left hook from Angulo. At that point, Alcine dropped his hands and was out on his feet. Angulo then landed several punches to the head before referee Lou Moret stopped the fight at 2:59 of the 1st round. Alcine made the mistake of thinking he could slug with Angulo and paid a big price by getting stopped.

Earlier in the round, Alcine was looking pretty good while fighting in the center of the ring, jabbing effectively and landing left hooks to the body and lopping right hands to the head. However, Alcine tried to clinch with Angulo and took a lot of shots while in the clinch. Alcine then held onto Angulo’s left arm to try and prevent him from punching. Angulo took that opportunity to land clubbing right hands to the head, one after another while Alcine foolishly continued to hold onto Angulo’s left arm.

This win possibly puts Angulo on a collision course for a rematch with Kermit Cintron, if he decides to fight for the WBC junior middleweight title. Cintron beat Angulo last year by a 12 round decision. However, it was a close fight and Angulo seems to have improved since then.