LAS VEGAS ? Four RING-rated welterweights will be in action on Saturday in Las Vegas, each will be looking to make a statement and position himself for a big 2015.
Tim Bradley, THE RING?s No. 2-rated welterweight, faces Diego Chaves in an HBO-televised main event from The Cosmopolitan. Keith Thurman, the magazine?s No. 7-rated contender, takes on Leonard Bundu on a Showtime broadcast from the MGM Grand that is topped by a showdown between No. 9-rated Amir Khan and No. 10-rated Devon Alexander.
All four fighters are major players in the stacked 147-pound division that is home to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, and all four are itching to face one of boxing?s two biggest stars next year.
Bradley?s already had a shot, splitting bouts with Pacquiao in 2012 and April of this year. The other three are aiming for Mayweather, who has an exclusive deal with Showtime.
Thurman is hungry for a breakout fight and says he?s willing to settle for any of the top dogs of his division.
?I?m excited about being on this card and I come to fight but I?d really to fight this guy here (pointing to Khan) or this guy here (pointing to Alexander),? Thurman (23-0, 21 knockouts) said during his turn at the podium during Thursday?s final press conference, ?but we all know that?s not possible right now.
?At the end of the day, I asked my people to find a quality fighter. I told them ?I don?t care where you find him.??
They found a solid dude from Italy in Bundu (31-0-2, 11 KOs), the unbeaten European welterweight champ who has scored some impressive victories in his last few bouts. Thurman?s trainer Dan Birmingham thought his star pupil might face a much bigger name before he signed off on Bundu.
?There was talk about Keith fighting Tim Bradley a few months ago,? Birmingham told RingTV.com. ?Obviously Top Rank (Bradley?s promotional company) decided to go another route for Tim, but there was some interest there.
?Once that was off the table and it was clear that none of the other name welterweights ? like the two guys in Saturday?s main event ? wanted to fight him, I looked for the toughest guy who would face him. There were two names that had agreed, both have never been stopped, (Kevin) Bizier and Bundu. Bizier is a good boxer, maybe better than Bundu, but he has one loss and hasn?t beaten anyone notable, so I chose Bundu. He?s unbeaten and he looked good in his last fight (a decision over then-undefeated British standout Frankie Gavin).
?I want Keith to face guys who are tough and are coming to win. That?s because I know he?s the truth. I?ve known it since he was a teenager.?
Birmingham, who trained Winky Wright from the amateurs to the undisputed junior middleweight championship, is a two-time BWAA Trainer of the Year award winner. He won the honor in 2004 and 2005, during Wright?s peak and the best years of his other standout, former IBF super middleweight titleholder Jeff Lacy.
He says he realized that Thurman was special during a training camp held in Lake Tahoe, Nevada nine years ago that included Wright, Lacy and Chad Dawson.
?Thurman held his own (in sparring) with all these guys, including Dawson, when he was 15 years old,? Birmingham said. ?He should be in the main event Saturday but these guys don?t want to fight him.
?Here?s my question to both Khan and Alexander: Why didn?t they have an answer for Keith when they were at the podium? Keith said he wanted to fight them both and they said nothing about that.?
Maybe both former titleholders are focused on each other.
Alexander, a three-time titleholder in two divisions (junior welterweight and welterweight), knows that he has to beat Khan and look damn good doing so in order to have any consideration as a pay-per-view B-side for Mayweather.
The 27-year-old St. Louis native has been willing to face fellow titleholders and top contenders ever since he stepped onto the world-class scene in 2009, but he knows that many boxing standouts don?t share his fearless attitude and realizes that opportunities against the likes of Khan don?t come often.
?My resume speaks for itself,? said Alexander, who has faced seven fighters who were current, former or future world titleholders in his last 10 bouts, as well as feared punchers like Lucas Matthysse and Marcos Maidana.
?You gotta lot of paper champs who want to fight the least threat for the most money, but in the end the strong survive. Since I beat Junior Witter (for his first world title) I?ve only fought top guys back-to-back-to-back.?
Khan (29-3, 19 KOs), who has faced nine fighters who were current or former world titleholders in his last 12 bouts, has the same fearless mentality that Alexander possesses but the 28-year-old native of Bolton, England has more critics than the American southpaw because he was knocked out by current RING 140-pound champ Danny Garcia in 2012 and had to get up off the canvas to barely outpoint faded former lightweight titleholder Julio Diaz last April.
?I?ve never shied away from any challenge,? Khan said. ?I come to fight and I come to win. No more losses. I?ve had the losses and I?ve learned from them.
?I?m not looking past Devon or taking him lightly. There?s no excuses for me with this fight. I?ve the best camp ever and I?m in the best shape I?ve ever been in. I just have to follow the game plan.?
The game plan has been formulated Virgil Hunter, who has trained Khan for his last three bouts. Hunter, who developed RING super middleweight champ Andre Ward from a junior amateur to the 2004 Olympic gold medalist to the sport?s consensus No. 2 pound-for-pound rated boxer, is familiar with Alexander.
?I?ve known Devon since he was 10, 11 years old,? Hunter said, recalling Alexander?s amateur years. ?I aware of who he is and what he brings to the ring.
?I knew exactly what we were up against when we took this fight and I let Amir Khan know what he was up against.?
Khan says he?s up against an equal talent.
?We?ve both got speed, explosiveness, power,? Khan said. ?We have everything. It should be a great fight.?
The ?Royal Battle?
It should be a pretty good card, too.
Supporting the Khan-Alexander and Thurman-Bundu fights on the Showtime broadcast is the return of three-division titleholder Abner Mares (27-1-1, 14 KOs), who takes on fellow Mexico native Jose Ramirez (24-3-2, 15 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round featherweight bout, and undefeated junior middleweight contender Jermall Charlo (19-0, 15 KOs), who faces Italy?s Lenny Bottai (22-2, 9 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round IBF title elimination bout.
Charlo?s twin brother, fellow 154-pound contender, Jermell (24-0, 11 KOs) was supposed to challenge undefeated WBO titleholder Demetrius Andrade on the Showtime broadcast but Andrade pulled out of the bout. The Houston native will instead face Mexico?s Mario Lozano in a scheduled 10-round bout that tops a Showtime Extreme telecast.
Undefeated welterweight prospect and 2012 U.S. Olympian Errol Spence Jr. (14-0, 11 KOs) faces Mexico?s Javier Castro (27-7, 22 KOs), and former welterweight titleholder Victor Ortiz (29-5-2, 22 KOs) fights Denver journeyman Manuel Perez (21-10-1, 4 KOs) on that Showtime Extreme broadcast.
Former light heavyweight titleholder Beibut Shumenov and Japanese welterweight slugger Yoshihiro Kamegai kick-off the Golden Boy Promotions card in off-TV eight rounders.
