Will Somebody Please Fight Timothy Bradley?

After a tremendously weak beginning of the year for boxing, the month of March seems to be the light at the end of the tunnel.

The next three months are loaded with potentially great fights, including several from the talent-laden super middleweight division, a couple of meaningful heavyweight fights, a clash of the middleweight and junior middleweight champions, and also a few from the white-hot junior welterweight division.

However, the suddenly loaded junior welterweight division is at this point also suddenly very perplexing. I just can’t figure out how the most talented, most exciting fighter in possibly the most exciting division can’t find an opponent.

Will someone please step up and fight the champ?

That sounds insane when put into the context of boxing being a true combat sport. The champ, “The Desert Storm” Timothy Bradley, can’t find anyone who wants to attempt to wrest his title away.

I’m a huge fan of “The Punisher” Paul Williams, but I have to agree with Bradley’s promoter, Gary Shaw, who claims that “The Desert Storm” is now the most avoided fighter in the sport.

Shaw, the head of Gary Shaw Productions, has by all accounts practically begged for someone to challenge his fighter. The list of names that Shaw has attempted to match with Bradley is impressive to say the least. If we’re to believe all of the reports on the Internet, the list includes but is certainly not limited to the following:

Marcos Maidana, Amir Khan, Edwin Valero, Victor Ortiz, Paulie Malignaggi, and Zab Judah.

Not one of those potential challengers would take the opportunity to accept the challenge from the champ.   

Now that scenario is just plain backwards, isn’t it? The champion has to challenge the challengers? What’s next? Boxing organizations are going to start awarding meaningless interim titles? 

That last part was meant to be a joke, but we all know it’s not that funny.

One name in particular on that list that was more surprising than the others by far was that of Zab Judah. When it became evident that many of the aforementioned had already partnered up and that some that weren’t mentioned had made other plans, it only left some that Bradley had already vanquished and Judah.

I was certain that Judah would step up to the plate. Here’s a man who has never shrunk away from anyone, has name recognition, and wanted to return to the division. It’s a seemingly perfect fit, right? It’s a fight that would’ve been fought at a high level of skill, speed, and action.

Ultimately, though, it’s a fight that just isn’t going to be fought. At least it won’t be fought in the very near future, anyway.

There is one name that hasn’t been mentioned, however. It’s a fighter with a big name who has also announced that he’s coming back to boxing.

He’s a fighter that is a huge draw and whose fans travel well. He was the reigning champion of the junior welterweight division until early May of last year.

Surely you’ve guessed by now that I’m referring to Ricky Hatton.

As we all know, there is only one Ricky Hatton.

Bradley and Shaw should be burning up the lines across the Atlantic. In all actuality, it’s a fight that probably would never happen, but why not try? What have they got to lose? The worst that can happen is they get turned down again. 

It’s a fight that would make sense for both fighters for very different reasons. For Bradley, Hatton represents a name on his résumé and the highest dollar amount he could earn to fight anyone outside of Manny Pacquiao.

For Hatton, Bradley represents redemption, plain and simple. If he would fight and somehow beat Bradley, he could go off into the sunset having regained the title and having beaten someone that no one else wants to fight.

A lot of people will scoff at this notion, but I believe it’s because of a strange dislike of Hatton by American fans that in all probability stems from his rabid British fans. Sure, his last outing was terrible, but sometimes that just happens in boxing. Ask Wladimir Klitschko. Ask Roberto Duran. Ask Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Roy Jones, etc. It happens. 

It just so happens that the only two losses on Hatton’s record are against the universally recognized No. 1 and 2 pound-for-pound fighters in the world, so I don’t understand all of the talk that he should retire. He should take his time and get into shape and get back at it.

The timing of Hatton’s return could also be in favor of a matchup with Bradley. With all of the fights that are scheduled for the second quarter of 2010, it’s reasonable to think that the networks' budgets are stretched to the limit.

With that being said, if Bradley needs to wait anyway, why not wait until the fall and fight Hatton in Manchester? We know Bradley isn’t afraid of traveling, and we know that Hatton could probably fill up the stadium in Manchester.

In all likelihood, both of these fighters will probably be on the schedule for the second half of the year—just not against each other. However, Hatton’s going to return, and someone, somewhere has to fight Bradley sometime.

Gary Shaw should call Golden Boy one more time.