Timothy Bradley vs Amir Khan: Is Not Fighting Khan Career Suicide?

Timothy Bradley, at 27 victories and only 11 KOs, is not a knockout artist.

Standing at 5'6", he's not the typical tall black American athlete.

Judging by the ticket sales of his past few fights, Bradley doesn't have any particular drawing power...at the moment.

What Bradley does have is a good chin and work ethic in the ring that puts his elite opponents to shame and one more very great trait...he fights anyone and everyone.

An elite fighter who fights everyone is hard to find. Many fighters won't fight a fight that fans think they can lose. Bradley has been the underdog many times against Junior Witter, Kendall Holt, Lamont Peterson and to some extent against Devon Alexander.

Now the biggest fight possible at junior welterweight (140 lbs) where Bradley campaigns is upon us and reports are coming in saying Bradley doesn't want the fight.

He apparently is not happy with the $1.3 million HBO is offering for the fight according to boxingscene.com.

Bradley may not like the money, because maybe Khan is getting more or maybe Bradley wants an easier opponent after snatching three zeros away from undefeated fighters, but his road is a hard one.

Bradley has always struck me as an Aaron Pryor type of fighter in that he's only going to need 35 to 40 fights. Of course, Pryor had a fierce knockout punch that Bradley doesn't but Bradley is very efficient with what he's got.

To add to my case, Bradley has stated before that he wants to retire before 30. He turns 28 this August. If he truly wants to get out the game by age 30, he can't take any easy fights.

It doesn't matter if HBO guaranteed him over a million dollars for his next fight after facing Devon Alexander, he still needs to take the best options available.

Some say Bradley's letting his contract with current promoter Gary Shaw run out in June, but he's cutting into his valuable time left in the ring.

Khan plans to move on with any one of a list of great opposition for July. Some say Bradley wouldn't be able to get back into the ring until at least September.

That makes 2011 almost impossible for Bradley to repeat his phenomenal 2009 year in which he had three great fights.

If Bradley wants to retire at 30 with an Aaron Pryor-esque legacy, he'll need to at turn up the pace and fight three times a year from now on.

If he does get a match in September after signing with someone else besides Gary Shaw, then maybe he can fight again in December pending he doesn't injure himself drastically.

Is Bradley committing career suicide by not taking the Amir Khan fight in July?

No, but his next move better be the best move or his career could land on suicide watch.