Khan V Bradley...Hmm...Ok

Early reports are suggesting that Frank Warren has been in touch with Gary Shaw about a fight next year which would see the current WBA Light Welterweight facing off against the current WBO title holder at the same weight. Though it is very early on, lets look at not only the fight, but the immediate implications of the fight if it was to take place some time early next year and even the changes to the Light Welterweight scene.

At the moment it's hard not to view these two as the best genuine Light Welterweights in the world, though Bradley has much better credentials to be regarded as the number 1 some will view Khans potential as him being the top guy. In the past year Khan has gone from a highly ranked Lightweight prospect to being the WBA champion by out pointing the tactically excellent but limited Andriy Kotelnik. In his first defence he blew out the terribly limited Dmitriy Salita in the first round and proving little (other than that WBA were making a mistake). Bradley on the other hand won the WBC title in the middle of 2008 beating Junior Witter and defended it against highly ranked Edner Cherry later that same year. 2009 saw Bradley beating the then WBO champion Kendall Holt to unify the WBC and WBO titles though was subsequently stripped of his old title as he faced Nate Campbell in a contest that would end in a No Contest. In his latest fight he beat unbeaten contender Lamont Peterson by completely outclassing the highly ranked Peterson.

So lets first look at the direct implication of this fight taking place before March the 5^th 2010, well first we would see Amir Khan getting stripped (if the WBA stick to there guns) or needing to vacate for refusing to fight Marcos Maidana. This would mean only the WBO title would be on the line and the "#1" placing as far as many are concerned, though is would more importantly give boxing fans ammunition to say that Khan is avoiding challengers. He's been manoeuvred away from hard punchers so far in his career, except for when he faced Breidis Prescott who stopped him in less than a minute, willingly vacating his title would go further to proving he's unwilling to face anyone with a bang behind him. Bradley doesn't have anything in regards to concussive power, instead relying on work rate and decent aggression to take him to where he is. This would almost certainly see Maidana crowned the WBA champion and possibly a rematch with Victor Ortiz would follow.

So the Khan v Bradley fight would probably be fought in the UK, Bradley has fought over there before (beating Witter in the UK) and despite being a solid boxer isn't the biggest draw in regards to fans. Khan has got a large fan base behind him and as a result would probably fill a decent sized arena in the UK for the WBO title against Bradley. The fight would be easy to sell on Sky Box Office though Bradley is a big enough name to see an American network want in (actually so is Khan) so it would be a late night/early morning fight in the UK (2AM on a Sunday morning GMT) and the header on a Frank Warren-Gary Shaw promotions card. The biggest co-promoted card between the two since Joe Calzaghe destroyed Jeff Lacy.

The fight it's self would be interesting, Bradley isn't the sort of Fighter that Khans going to knock over the first time he hits him whilst Bradley doesn't have the concussive power than will worry Khan. Instead we may well see both fighters trading in the centre of the ring in what could well promise to be an enthralling contest. However since Khan has joined Freddie Roach's camp he has been much more willing to use his reach and speed rather than going head on looking for a fight with opponents. This is what caused Kotelnik to be beaten by Khan so easily, however Khans speed will work against a lazy slower opponent like Kotelnik, Bradley doesn't set himself the same and will look to turn it into a fight rather than sticking on the counter punching tactics that saw Kotlenik look foolish. Although Bradley doesn't his concussively hard he's dropped Peterson, Kendall Holt and Junior Witter in recent fights and theres no saying he can't do the same to Khan, if he does that could well be it.

The styles clash will be an excellent one with either fighter able to beat the other depending on who takes control of the fight from the start. Less than a week ago odds were available on the fight between the two, they priced Khan as a 6/4 outsider and Bradley as a ½ favourite with Skybet however they seem to have been pulled down now, perhaps as realisation that the fight is likely has turned them away from offering the odds.

The fight to decide the number #1 at Light Welterweight should come after the Maidana v Khan fight and unify the titles rather than be rushed out too with only 1 title on the line.