Who remembers when Tim Bradley and Amir Khan was the second or third biggest rivalry in boxing?
In Spring 2011, then WBA Jr Welterweight Champion Amir Khan and his trainer, Freddie Roach, unsuccessfully tried to entice then WBC/WBO Jr Welterweight Champion Tim Bradley into agreeing to a unification title match-up.
Unbeknownst at the time to Khan and Roach, Bradley was looking to sign a long-term promotional deal with either Golden Boy Promotions or Top Rank and had put fighting on hold until to address promotion-related matters.
Sensing Bradley vs Khan would be a favorable style match-up and the proverbial linchpin to lock a 2012 super showdown with Floyd Mayweather, Khan and Roach were relentless in their efforts to lure Bradley into the ring and hurled personal insults directed to Tim via Twitter and the media until they finally pursued other options.
And even after Khan and Roach had moved on, the Brit stoked the fire months later when he told Tim to “grow a pair” as the fighters crossed paths as attendees at a boxing match.
Recently, Bradley, now a former two division champion, insisted he’d love the opportunity to face Amir Khan.
?If you look at Amir?s career and look at mine, it speaks for itself,? Bradley said recently via Dontae?s Boxing Nation.
?If our lanes cross, let?s do it. Amir is one of them.” “I?ll fight you, Amir. I?m not afraid of you. Let?s fight. Let?s make it happen. Come talk to my people. Talk to my manager. We can make it happen,? Bradley said.
Should Khan face Bradley next?
Some will say Khan should play it safe because he’s a likely opponent for a super showdown with Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao sometime next year. But others will insist Khan needs a win over an elite-level fighter, such as Tim Bradley, to be considered for Floyd Mayweather and/or Manny Pacquiao in 2016.
Does Amir Khan need to defeat a fighter on Tim Bradley’s level to face the winner or loser of Mayweather vs Pacquiao (should it happen)? Bradley vs Khan is probably not on the horizon but it’s a question worth asking, and would be an interesting bout should it ever come to fruition.
