Alexander-Bradley Winner 'Merits' Pacquiao, Mayweather, Marquez

The Jan. 29 winner of an HBO televised junior welterweight (140 pounds) clash between southpaw WBC champ Devon Alexander, of St. Louis, Mo., and WBO counter part Tim Bradley, of Palm Springs, Calif., merits a mega fight opposite eight-division king Manny Pacquiao, six-time titlist Floyd Mayweather or WBO and WBA lightweight (135 pounds) belt-holder Juan Manuel Marquez, Alexander's manager and trainer, Kevin Cunningham, contends.

Cunningham also believes that the victor between the 23-year-old Alexander (21-0, 13 knockouts) and the 27-year-old Bradley (26-0, 11 KOs) would stand worthy against 39-year-old, three-division, five-time titlist Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs), against whom the 32-year-old Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) will defend his WBO welterweight (147 pounds) crown on May 7 without Pacquiao's WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) belt being on the line.

Cunningham's response counters a notion by Golden Boy Promotions CEO, Richard Schaefer, that the winner of Alexander-Bradley, to be contested at the Pontiac Silverdome, in Pontiac, Mich., face 24-year-old WBA king Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KOs) of England, who is coming off of a Dec. 11, unanimous decision over then-WBA interim belt-holder Marcos Rene Maidana (29-2, 27 KOs), of Argentina.

Schaefer, who promotes Khan, told Robert Morales of BoxingScene.com that he has spoken with officials at HBO concerning a July 30 fight for Khan against the winner of Alexander-Bradley, with the loser meeting Maidana. Khan is slated to return to the ring on April 16 against an opponent to be determined in England.

Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum agrees that the Alexander-Bradley winner could "merit," Pacquiao. In this FanHouse Q&A, Cunningham discussed the merits of Pacquiao, Mosley, the 33-year-old Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) and the 37-year-old Marquez (51-5-1, 38 KOs), the latter of whom is a three-division champion

Arum: Alexander-Bradley Winner 'Absolutely' Could Earn Pacquiao.
Promoter: Alexander-Bradley Winner Gets Khan, Loser, Maidana

FanHouse: What are your thoughts on what should be next for the winner of the Devon Alexander-Tim Bradley fight?

Kevin Cunningham: They're trying to push Amir Khan on the winner of this fight, and I don't like that. With us, we'll fight anybody.

But I don't like how they're setting it up like these two are fighting to see who deserves to fight Amir Khan. I don't like that.


Would you, instead, want to see Devon Alexander and Tim Bradley do a rematch, as Bradley indicated to FanHouse as the result of a rematch clause?

I don't have a rematch clause. I don't know what Bradley has in his contract, but we don't have a rematch clause. We have another fight with HBO, but its up to HBO's discretion with whom we fight.

But we don't have a rematch clause with Tim Bradley. Maybe Bradley has a rematch clause, but we don't. But you have two, undefeated fighters who are the best two, 140-pounders in the division fighting each other.

They are also the only two who have unified titles in the division. They are the only two who are undefeated. I don't see Khan as being a prize for the winner of this fight.

The winner of this fight should be awarded with a mega fight, and I don't see Khan as that mega fight.





What do you believe should be next for the winner of Alexander-Bradley?

If these two guys are going to step up to the plate and lay their undefeated records on the line against each other, when nobody else is doing this?

You can't get [Wladimir Klitschko or Vitali Klitschko] and [David Haye] into the ring together. You can't get Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao into the ring together.

But, yet, Devon Alexander and Tim Bradley step up and give the fans what they want and lay everything on the line? For the winner of a fight like this, there has got to be a bigger prize than Amir Khan.

I mean, Amir Khan already has had a first-round knockout loss [to Breidis Prescott] and was out on his feet in his last fight.


What should happen?

I think that the loser of this fight should get Amir Khan, and the winner should be on par for talking about a mega fight with a Floyd Mayweather or a Manny Pacquiao or a Juan Manuel Marquez.

Those are the types of names that the winner should be considered for. So, who else is deserving to be an opponent fo those types of guys?

Who better than an Alexander-Bradley to be in that position to fight Mayweather, Pacquiao or Marquez? Mayweather's looking for opponents, and Pacquiao's looking for opponents.

If they're not getting into the ring with each other, they're going to need somebody to fight, right? Marquez is talking about getting a third shot at Pacquiao.

Why wouldn't the winner of this fight be in the mix with those guys? To me, that makes more sense for the winner. I think that the winner should get Marquez and the loser should get Khan.

Marquez would be a bigger fight for the winner than Khan because Amir Khan is still a relatively unknown fighter in America. Who knows Amir Khan in America?

And you can even throw Shane Mosley in there, because with Mayweather, Pacquiao, Marquez and Mosley -- those are basically four of the biggest names among the active and recognizable names in the sport right now.

I agree with what [Bradley's promoter] Gary Shaw said from the outset, and that is that the winner of this fight should get Manny Pacquiao, and the loser should get Amir Khan.

I agree with Gary Shaw 100 percent. But with Pacquiao already in a fight with Mosley, why not the winner against Marquez?