Last Friday, WBO Jr. Welterweight Title holder Timothy Bradley said, after signing an agreement with his promoter Gary Shaw to fight St. Louian Devon Alexander, “You got your wish.”
“I’ve signed the contract, the fight is on” a confident Bradley told Fanhouse.com last Friday shortly after signing the lucrative deal to face Alexander, who is the WBC and IBF champion.
Bradley, who has a record of 26 – 0 with 11 knockouts, is coming off an impressive victory at 147 pounds against Carlos Luis Abregu of Argentina in Bradley’s hometown of Ranch Mirage, California on HBO back in July.
Bradley added, “Devon and I, our styles or somewhat different, he can be aggressive, and I can be aggressive. He can box, and I can box as well. So, you know, it’s going to be a good fight.”
The fight is set for Saturday Jan. 23, 2011 in Miami the week before the Super Bowl when HBO’S Boxing After Dark rolls out the red carpet on its 2011 boxing schedule.
It also will mark the return in the ring for St. Louis’ Alexander “The Great” following his homecoming defense of his titles against Andreas Kotelnik of Ukraine in front of 10,000 fans at the Scottrade Center back in August as the main event of a Don King Production.
Nicknamed ‘”The Desert Storm,” Bradley seems to think he has what it takes to take both belts back to the crib with him.
“I’m just as quick and skillfull as Devon is,” he said. “But he’s a lefty, so it’s going to be a battle of angles.”
As for Team Alexander, trainer/manager Kevin Cunningham was glad to hear the news that Bradley had indeed signed the contract so he and his fighter could get back to work.
“Devon’s looking forward to the challenge, and we are looking forward to getting back to camp and taking care of business,” he said.
Give Team Alexander credit, after what some said was a lackluster performance from the champ back in August, it should be noted that Devon was the main event that night, parading around town selling tickets and shaking hands with his fans all week. It was new for him.
But with that out of the way for now, the champ and Team Alexander can concentrate on taking his show a step closer to be considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world one day.
He was not looking for some tomato can to fight, or to tune up with. He took less to continue the march to glory by asking for the best at 140 in Timothy Bradley, which demonstrates the dedication of this young fighter from St. Louis and the mark he is trying to make, not just in St. Louis but around the world.
