By Rick Reeno

WBA/IBF junior welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-1, 18KOs) issued his response to some of the recently published comments that appeared on BoxingScene.com from his division rival, WBO king Timothy Bradley (27-0, 11KOs). During a recent interview, Bradley explained that he saw no reason to face Khan at this moment in time. Bradley returns on Saturday night as part of the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He defends his title against former champion Joel Casamayor. Khan defends his two belts against mandatory challenger Lamont Peterson in December.

"He can't move without me. I don't need him. He needs me. I don't really care what Amir Khan thinks or what people say about me. When the time is right, Amir and I will settle our differences in the ring," Bradley said.

Earlier this year, the two sides were negotiating a possible summer showdown, but their negotiations fell through when Bradley made a decision to pursue other options. Bradley broke ties with promoters Gary Shaw and Thompson Boxing, and later signed with Top Rank. Both Khan and Bradley are planning to invade the welterweight division in 2012.

"I think everyone in boxing knows that he needs me. Just look where my career is going. I'm in the number one position [at 140]. I want the big fights and I've beaten guys in a better style [than Bradley]. I'm the biggest name at 140-pounds and the only reason I want to fight him is to prove to the world that I'm the best at the 140-pound division. He's been avoiding me. I've already offered him [the fight] twice. He did say that he wanted to fight [last year], but at that time I had [Marcos] Maidana. I took care of Maidana and then I had a fight quite early [in the year] against [Paul] McCloskey, who was also in the top ten. I said 'look, Bradley's next' and he agreed, but when the time comes he refused that fight," Khan told BoxingScene.com. 

"And then I took on Zab Judah and then again he refused that fight, and now I'm taking on Lamont Peterson. I am only doing it for the boxing fans because the boxing fans want to see a big fight and they want to see me take on the best guys in the division. I'm ready to fight them at any place and any time, which shows what kind of character I have."