By Michael Marley

Showing some imagination, undefeated WBC junior welterweight champion Devon Alexander's manager/trainer, Kevin Cunningham, compared Jan. 29 HBO foe, the also unbeaten 140 pound beltholder Tim "Desert Storm" Bradley, to ukelele virtuoso and national joke Tiny Tim.

The ex-St. Louis police officer said his boxer will have this "Tiny Tim" traipsing through the tulips.

Tim, of course sang "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" off-key, a novelty hit which prompted ancient black comedienne Jackie "Moms" Mabley to croon a ditty which began, "When you tiptoe through the ghetto at night..."

But I digress.

I'm not sure Bradley even knows who the stringy-haired  crooner was, let alone who his bride, Miss Vicky, was. (The oddball pair got hitched as 40-50 million watched them live on Johnny Carson's "Tonight" Show on Dec. 17, 1969.)

I just hope no one tells the Alexander camp that Bradley consumes no meat and eats tofu, tempeh and other delicate but healthy items.

But I do know that, for a fighter who tiptoed past Andries Kotelnik in his hometown of St. Louis, Devon "The Great" has big plans beyond the Bradley showdown at the White Elephant Dome in Pontiac, Mich.

Cunningham, told me he and his boxer see bigger mountains past Bradley.

"Oh, yeah," Cunningham said by phone from Las Vegas, "we'll go after Mayweather, Pacquiao, Mosley or Marquez down the line.

"Devon's got two more bouts at 140, then he'll go up to welterweight. He's tall, he's been 139 pounds since he was age 15. We want the Big Four after Bradley, we do not care about (Amir) Khan.

"We want mega-fights after beating Tim Bradley and Khan is no mega-fight for us because Khan is no megastar. Anyone of the Big Four, now that can be a mega-fight," Cunningham said.

It's hard to imagine a packed house even in a cutdown version of the domed stadium which has been in mothballs since the NFL Lions abandoned it especially since Alexander is from Missouri and Bradley from the Palm Springs/Indio area of California.

Obviously, the Alexander camp's preference was home cooking in 'The Lou.

"Gary Shaw (Bradley handler) found this deal. As far as we're concerned, we'd go to Alaska to fight Bradley with no hesitation it sets the stage for even bigger fights for us."

The Alexander camp certainly does not lack for confidence.

Will this hyped up bout be like a new Rolls Royce or a used Pontiac?

Oops, I forgot they don't make Pontiacs any longer.