The deadline imposed by Golden Boy Promotions for WBO/WBC light welterweight champion Tim Bradley to agree to the proposed June unification bout with WBA champion Amir Khan passed today without response from team Bradley.
The news means that team Khan will now begin looking into other summer opponents with Marcos Maidana, Zab Judah, Erik Morales and Robert Guerrero being the current favorites.
While Bradley vs. Khan not happening at the moment will no doubt be a disappointment for many fans hoping to see the two best fighters in the division squaring off, in many ways passing the fight up made sense for Tim Bradley.
As part of the agreement between his team and HBO that was attached to his fight with Devon Alexander, Bradley is guaranteed 1.2 million for his next fight.
If he fights Khan now he gets a little more than that, but takes a huge risk in doing so. If he loses he certainly won’t be making that kind of money for his next fight after that, and possibly not for any future fights either.
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As an undefeated two belt champion right now he has a certain cache when negotiating deals with promoters and television networks.
As things stand now, when his promotional contract with Gary Shaw runs out in the coming months he will probably be able to put together a big money deal with either Top Rank or Golden Boy.
If he loses to Khan this summer however, as a fighter with a loss on his record, very few knockouts to his name and very little drawing power, that cache is gone, and with it go his big paydays.
Avoiding Khan for now means he can take an easy fight on HBO later this summer and still make $1.2 million.
His promotional contract with Shaw, which expires in June, will by then be out of the way.
The fight with Khan will then still be available, possibly even with a bigger purse attached to it if they share a promoter.
Bradley’s motivations aside, Khan now has to choose his summer opponent, and he isn’t short of choices.
A resurgent Erik Morales would be another big albeit faded name to add to his record, and after his career resurrecting performance against Marcos Maidana the bout would certainly generate plenty of interest.
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If Khan is as adamant to unify the division as he claims, logically then the most likely choice of next opponent should be Zab Judah, who holds IBF title.
Judah would also match up well with Khan, possessing knockout power, fast hands and excellent movement , all qualities that Khan has in abundance as well.
The fact that both can be knocked out and that neither is used to facing someone who’s skills parallel their own would make the bout intriguing also, so long as Judah’s trend towards unreliability from fight to fight wasn’t in play.
Marcos Maidana is also a possibility and is would likely make for another great fight. Khan and Maidana’s first bout was as close as they come, with Khan winning the early rounds only to be badly rocked in the 11th before hanging on for a decision.
Team Khan hasn’t shown much interest in fighting Maidana again before now though, having declined a rematch immediately after the first fight. Khan himself has also been asked on numerous occasions and has tended to downplay the idea, usually stating that he feels he beat Maidana convincingly enough the first time.
Lightweight Robert Guerrero is another name being mentioned, although many feel he lacks both the name recognition amongst casual fans and the resume as a light welterweight to stand much of a chance of being chosen.
As per usual there will also be one other name throwing his hat into the ring, or attempting to.
Colombian heavy hitter Breidis Prescott was the first and so far only man to beat Khan, crushing him in a matter of minutes at lightweight three years ago.
Since then Khan has become an even bigger star and won a world title, while Prescott has lost twice more and certainly not beaten anyone at or even near elite level.
The one thing he has done however is call out Khan for a rematch, and often. So often in fact that whenever the subject of Khan’s next opponent comes up, Prescott is usually there tirelessly campaigning for a rematch.
As usual Khan will likely either ignore Prescott entirely or rightly point out that he has done little to warrant a shot at his world title. So as much as Prescott might talk it up, he should be considered a rank outsider to become Khan’s next opponent.
At this point the most likely options are either Morales or Judah, with Morales possibly being the safer option and Judah bringing with it the all important world title belt.
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