By Jim Dower: Undefeated Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KO’s) is risking a lot on Saturday night against undefeated Luis Carlos Abregu (29-0, 23 KO’s) in their scheduled 12 round non-title belt at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, Calif. For Bradley, this is a must win for him if he wants to become a mega star in the future.

Above all, the 26-year-old Bradley must get by the powerful Abregu at welterweight before he moves on to face bigger risks in fights against Devon Alexander, Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana and Victor Ortiz at light welterweight.

Those are all stepping stone fights for the two fighters that Bradley is dying to fight – Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Right now, Bradley isn’t a big enough name on his own to get a fight against those two monster stars of the sport.

It’s going to take some solid wins over the likes of Abregu, Alexander, Khan and Maidana to get Pacquiao and Mayweather’s attention. However, the first important matter is to figure out a way to beat Abregu.

Bradley will be making his first bout at welterweight, and didn’t want to take it easy against a soft opponent. However, this could end up hurting Bradley if Abregu turns out to be tougher than he originally though and ends up beating Bradley. Abregu, if nothing else, has big power and can be problems if he’s able to land his shots.

Bradley has got extraordinary hand speed and good boxing skills. However, he’s not so quick that he’ll be able to prevent Abregu from laying a glove on him all night long. Bradley is going to have be able to take some decent shots if he wants to win this fight.

Abregu is going to catch up to Bradley at some point and connect with something big. Bradley’s chin has looked good up to this point. Let’s hope for his sake that it holds up under the pounding that Abregu is going to be putting on him on Saturday night.