By Ryan Burton
BoxingScene.com spoke to Kevin Cunningham about the possible fallout of the proposed unification bout between his fighter IBF/WBC junior welterweight champion Devon Alexander and WBO champion Timothy Bradley. Cunningham told BoxingScene, "We have been asking for a fight with Bradley for a long time and he is still at the top of our list."
Cunningham has read the reports on BoxingScene and other internet outlets that have outlined the friction between Team Bradley and his promoter Gary Shaw.
"Again I want to stress Bradley is our first priority but it seems that Team Bradley and his promoter are in a lot of turmoil and who knows what will happen with that soap opera," Cunningham said.
The 140 pound division is arguably boxing's deepest. WBA full champion Amir Khan and WBA interm champion Marcos Maidana are set to square off on December 11th in Las Vegas. Team Alexander are aiming to keep the date of January 29th that HBO has set aside for the Alexander-Bradley fight. Because the winner of the Khan-Maidana will not be ready to turn around and fight again that soon, Team Alexander have set their sights on one of Saturdays combatants.
"We have to keep our options open and we will be watching Victor Ortiz's fight with Vivian Harris very closely. If Ortiz wins he would have plenty of time to get ready to fight Devon. A fight between Devon and Ortiz would be perfect for January 29th in Las Vegas."
After finishing up with Cunningham my next call was to Victor Ortiz's manager Rolando Arrellano who was getting ready to go to the weigh-in for HBO's pay per view card that includes Ortiz's fight with Vivian Harris. Arrellano wanted to stress that all of Team Ortiz's focus is on Saturday's fight with former champion Vivian Harris.
"Would we entertain fighting Devon Alexander? Absolutely. We are focused on Harris and after we get through this fight we will sit down and decide what to do next. Alexander, Tim Bradley and the Khan-Maidana winner will all be at the top of our list," Arrellano told BoxingScene.
Arrellano thinks it may be tough to make a fight with Alexander because of the unified champion's promoter, Don King. He feels it will be tough to strike a deal with legendary promoter.
"Don King is a shrewd businessman and will do what is in the best interest of his business. At the same time I have to look out for Victor's best interests and under no circumstances will we give King options on Victor."
Arrellano went on to say that it has been tough to get fights with any of the champions of the division.
"Its kind of funny that now some of these champions are willing to fight Victor. Victor is a dangerous opponent. I can see why they were avoiding him before. If I managed some of these other fighters I would have avoided them too. Tell Team Alexander to watch the fight. We just might call them out after the fight."
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