By Keith Idec

Timothy Bradley has changed his mind.

Bradley now believes that he doesn’t need to fight Manny Pacquiao to validate his place in boxing. A move up to welterweight to face Pacquiao obviously would fatten Bradley’s bank account, but the unbeaten junior welterweight world champion seems at peace with spending 2011 and perhaps 2012 trying to secure his spot as the top 140-pound boxer in the world.

Just a month ago, during the beginning of a promotional tour for Bradley’s highest-profile fight, the likeable Palm Springs, Calif., native mentioned a potential fight against Pacquiao almost as much as his Jan. 29 showdown with Devon Alexander at The Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich. He has since grown “sick of chasing people” and “calling people out,” so he has shifted his focus toward becoming boxing’s undisputed junior welterweight king.

“Not at the moment,” Bradley said, when asked on a recent conference call if he was headed back to welterweight after facing Alexander. “Not even thinking about it. I want to seize the 140-pound titles. There is so much business to take care of at 140 before I would think about the Pacquiaos and the Mayweathers, which I would like to do. Each weight class needs one king, and that’s what we are going to do at 140.”

Not only does he have a rematch clause in his contract for the Alexander bout, fights against Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KOs), Marcos Maidana (29-2, 27 KOs) and Juan Manuel Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KOs) are all attractive alternatives to opposing Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) or Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs).

“I just want to constantly fight the best,” Bradley said. “I will become the best by fighting the best and giving the boxing fans the best fights out there that can possibly be made. I am sick of fighting average guys. The top 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, let’s go. Win this fight, who’s next? Khan? Let’s go. After Khan, Maidana. Let’s go. After him, Marquez. There are so many fights out there to be made at 140. It’s great and I’m loving it.”

Embracing big fights at 140 pounds seems like Bradley’s best bet anyway.

His 147-pound debut July 17 against Luis Carlos Abregu probably proved above all else that Bradley is better suited to compete at 140 pounds. Bradley beat Argentina’s Agregu (29-1, 23 KOs) by comfortable margins on all three scorecards (118-110, 117-111, 116-112), but he didn’t look as fast or as sharp against a bigger, stronger opponent in that HBO bout.

Bradley would be a big underdog against Pacquiao, too, but he seems most deterred by Bob Arum’s preference for having Pacquiao box strictly Top Rank-promoted opponents and/or faded former champions if a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight cannot be made.

“I think the fighters are willing to fight, but their handlers or promoters are not willing to make the fight,” Bradley said, alluding partially to Arum and Pacquiao. “It will be a task because if you’re not part of their team they do not want to fight you. I don’t know why that’s the way it is, but that’s the way it is. They won’t give you a chance and that’s what is killing boxing.”

The 23-year-old Alexander (21-0, 13 KOs) and the 27-year-old Bradley (26-0, 11 KOs, 1 NC) both believe that a bout between two young, undefeated, African-American champions is just what boxing needs to kick off 2011, especially since it’ll be broadcast by HBO, not HBO Pay-Per-View.

“I do think the state of boxing right now is at a low,” Bradley said. “We are [in] the most talented division in boxing and we are going to bring it back, just like the old days. If it’s an awesome fight, like I think it’s going to be, we are going to do it again for the boxing fans and for the world. This is the best fight in boxing because you’re not going to see Manny and Floyd fight anytime soon.”

The rematch clause for his fight against St. Louis’ Alexander doesn’t call for an immediate rematch. That could set the stage for the Alexander-Bradley winner to fight Khan later this year, before Alexander-Bradley II is scheduled.

Khan told “BBC 5 Live” on Friday that he is considering facing Northern Ireland’s Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KOs) on April 16 at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England. A proposed bout between Khan and Lamont Peterson (28-1-1, 14 KOs), whom Bradley dominated during their December 2009 fight for Bradley’s WBO junior welterweight title, fell apart because Peterson wanted more money than Khan’s representatives were willing to pay.

Assuming Khan overcomes McCloskey, a southpaw who’d be a huge underdog, or another opponent, Bradley acknowledged the once-beaten British star would be the most logical opponent for the winner between him and Alexander, who will square off for Bradley’s WBO crown and Alexander’s WBC title.

“Nobody knows who is No. 1 [at 140 pounds] until we get in the ring,” said Bradley, who is rated No. 9 on The Ring magazine’s pound-for-pound list. “That’s what makes it interesting. The winner of [the Alexander-Bradley fight] will definitely have to fight Amir Khan. If they don’t do it, the media should put the pressure on [him] because I think that’s the way it should go. I think we all should get a shot at each other.

“Styles make fights and on any given night, you know you might be in there with the wrong style and you might get beat. We should do a round-robin. I should get a shot at Amir, Devon should get a shot at Amir. He should get a shot at Maidana and I should get a shot at Maidana. Like back in the old days, with ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Marvin Hagler. They all went at it a couple of times.. Alexis Arguello and Aaron Pryor, they went at it a couple of times. Let’s do that, the best fighting the best. Muhammad Ali fought Joe Frazier three times. That’s what boxing needs to bring it back.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, NJ., and BoxingScene.com.