One of the most accomplished boxers fighting today takes to the ring on Saturday night when Timothy ''Desert Storm'' Bradley defends his WBO light welterweight title against former two-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist Joel Casamayor of Cuba on the Manny Pacquiao v Juan Manuel Marquez undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

28-year-old Bradley (27-0, 11 KOs) is considered to be the only genuine threat to Britain's Amir Khan's dominance of the 140 pound division. Although fight fans the world over would love to see Bradley and Khan face each other in the ring to decide once and for all who is the junior welterweight top dog, it would now seem that Khan intends to move up to welterweight after he defends his WBA/IBF titles against no.1 contender Lamont Peterson in Washington on December 10.

While by no means a devastating puncher, the aggressive, all action Bradley is a superb boxer and all round ring technician. Despite being just 5'6" tall, he has gone undefeated throughout his seven year professional career, dominating both slick boxers and devastating punchers with his combination of supreme fitness, speed and tenacity.

British fight fans will remember Bradley as the man who ended the reign of former WBC light welterweight champion Junior Witter in 2008. Going into that fight, Bradley was a virtual unknown, despite his perfect 21-0 record. Witter was arguably the best light welterweight in the world at that time, and had been avoided by Britain's 140 lb superstar Ricky Hatton for years.

Bradley floored Witter in the sixth round on the way to winning a split decision in the defending champion's hometown of Nottingham. It was a stunning performance, and overnight fight fans the world over were suddenly aware of Timothy Bradley.

Bradley added the WBO title in 2009 with a 12 round decision over big punching Kendall Holt, climbing off the canvas in the first and last rounds. He subsequently vacated the WBC title to take a bout with former IBF/WBA/WBO lightweight champion Nate Campbell. Campbell suffered a badly cut eye in the third round that disappointingly turned that fight into a No Contest.

In December 2009 Bradley outpointed the previously undefeated Lamont Peterson, and in July 2010 he was too good for Argentinian Luis Carlos Abregu, another previously unbeaten challenger. 

In his last fight in January of this year, Bradley scored a close but unanimous decision over the highly touted and undefeated WBC champion Devon Alexander. Alexander had exploded onto the 140 lb scene with a pair of sensational stoppage victories. He forced  Junior Witter to retire after eight rounds to win the vacant WBC title, and then knocked out the iron chinned Juan Urango, also in the eighth round in his first title defense. Although Alexander's reputation had been slightly tarnished by an unimpressive points win over former WBA champion Andriy Kotelnik in August 2010, many experts figured he would be too much for Bradley. 

In the event, the reverse was true. Bradley was simply too complete a fighting machine for Alexander, and won a scrappy, ugly fight convincingly. Since then, Bradley has pursued bouts with both Khan and Manny Pacquiao, and also spoke of his desire to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. Bradley is rated by many boxing websites and publications as one of the top 10 pound for pound boxers in the world today. For the sake of both his legacy and his bank balance, Bradley desires a major bout against a marquee name.

In the meantime, on Saturday night Bradley will stay active against an opponent who, while still dangerous, is not quite the force he was a few years ago.

40-year-old Joel Casamayor (38-5-1, 22 KOs) is a 15 year pro veteran who won a gold medal in the bantamweight class at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. On the eve of what would have been his defense of that title at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Casamayor defected to the United States and embarked on a highly successful professional career.

He won his first world title in 2000, stopping Korean Jong-Kwon Baek on cuts in five rounds to win the WBA super featherweight crown. The Cuban southpaw with the silky skills and knockout punch would go on to make four successful defenses of his title before losing it in a unification fight against Brazilian sensation WBO champ Acelino Freitas in 2002. 

Casamayor stayed hot with with victories over Yoni Vargas and Nate Campbell before scoring a career-best sixth round TKO over the late great Diego Corrales in October 2003. It was a sensational fight that saw Casamayor and Corrales both hit the deck before the bout was stopped due to severe cuts on the inside of the American's mouth.

In a rematch the following year, Corrales won a split decision and with it the vacant WBO super featherweight title. When Casamayor lost a split decision to Mexican veteran Jose Luis Castillo in December 2004 for the WBC lightweight title, it appeared that his world championship days were behind him.

In 2005 Castillo would lose his crown to Corrales in one of the most savage fights in ring history. Corrales subsequently defended it against Casamayor in a rubber match, and this time the Cuban emerged victorious with a split decision. 

Boxing politics ended the Cubans second world title reign, and in 2008 Casamayor scored his last great win when he TKO'd the previously undefeated Australian slugger Michael Katsidis in a wildly exciting bout for the interim WBO lightweight title. It was a sensational fight that saw both men hit the canvas. 

On the strength of that win, Casamayor faced another veteran two weight world champion of advanced years in Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez. The winner was guaranteed a crack at the world lightweight title, and it was Marquez who prevailed with an 11th round TKO in a desperately close fight.

In the three years since the Marquez loss, Casamayor has boxed just three times. He scored an eight round points decision over Jason Davis in 2009, but was well beaten by the outstanding two weight world champion Robert ''The Ghost'' Guerrero in 2010. This year Casamayor proved that he wasn't quite done yet by outpointing Mexican Manuel Leyva over 10 rounds. The Cuban is currently ranked 10th by the WBO, but unrated by the other major boxing organizations. 

Casamayor is still an exemplary professional, and is guaranteed to give 100% of himself in any fight. He has lost just five times in 44 bouts - Juan Manuel Marquez remains the only man to stop him. 

This should be an extremely competitive, entertaining fight, and Casamayor is more than capable of catching an onrushing Bradley with one of those trademark right hooks of his and putting the champion on the canvas. That said, in Bradley he will face a fighter at the peak of his powers, something that Casamayor no longer is. The Cuban may have some success, but the American will in general be the dominant fighter. I cannot see Bradley stopping Casamayor, but I nevertheless see him winning a comfortable unanimous decision.

Bradley by unanimous decision.

Big Fight Odds: Timothy Bradley 1/25, Joel Casamayor 10/1 bet365