Devon Alexander over Kotelnik.

Perhaps the biggest winner from Saturday night’s WBC-IBF junior welterweight championship bout in St. Louis between hometown favorite Devon Alexander and former titlist Andreas Kotelnik was WBA champ Amir Khan, whose June 2009 dismantling of the Ukrainian gains new weight after this grueling fight left both fighters spent and looking the worse for wear. The champ unsurprisingly escaped with a unanimous decision and both of his belts, but Kotelnik can hold his head his head high after using his superior timing to give the undefeated Alexander all he could handle.

Alexander seemed out of this element, perhaps unsettled by the 9,000-strong crowd that included such luminaries as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Evander Holyfield, Larry Hughes and numerous St. Louis Rams. (It is also a notable nod to Pretty Boy’s stature in the sport that the HBO commenting team cited his presence ringside as evidence of Alexander’s rising profile.) Thanks to the perverse logic that governs the business of the sweet science, Alexander’s less-than-impressive performance against Kotelnik will only enhance his market value. Another stunning knockout like his dispatching of Juan Urango would have likely scared away all marketable challengers, but now his post-fight challenge to Bradley could take place as soon as January.

One could expect if the superfight does take place that the two undefeated belt holders would give us a heavy dose of busy exchanges and outside fighting that would more than likely go the distance. Having had limited exposure to Alexander, I’m inclined to think Bradley’s superior experience and boxing ability would enable to him to carry a decision. Devon the Great, on the other hand, seems more likely to raise his game and deliver a dramatic knockout. Either result would bring order to an increasingly competitive division and create an appealing American target for foreign competitors like Khan and Marcos Maidana to challenge in coming years. Here’s hoping Don King can reach into his bag of tricks and find a way to make this fight happen in the near future.