Timothy Bradley’s 12-round unanimous decision over undefeated welterweight fringe contender Carlos Abregu on Saturday caught the eye THE RING magazine’s editorial board, which added him to their 147-pound ratings on Monday.

THE RING installed Bradley, currently the magazine’s No. 1-rated junior welterweight, as its No. 10-rated welterweight contender based on his HBO-televised performance.

Bradley’s fight with Abregu also caught the attention of one of his 140-pound peers, Amir Khan. However, based on what the British beltholder posted on his Twitter page after Bradley’s fight, it’s evident that the once-beaten speed demon is not as impressed with the Palm Springs, Calif., native as THE RING.

“How (did) Bradley do yesterday, and how did he look? (Because) I couldn't be (bothered) watching him,” Khan stated on his Twitter page on Sunday morning while vacationing in Barbados. “(By the way) clever way to avoid the best 140 (pounders) by moving up (in weight).”

Bradley could not be reached by RingTV.com for comment but it’s safe to say that the undefeated titleholder wouldn’t care for Khan’s tweets, especially the part about his trying to avoid the top junior welterweights. Bradley (26-0, 11 knockouts) feels he’s the one who is being avoided by the better-known 140-pound fighters, including Khan.

Perhaps Bradley’s luck is about to change. Khan, THE RING’s No. 3-rated junior welterweight contender, answered Bradley’s challenge to all of his fellow 140-pound young guns in his follow-up tweets.

“I'll fight Tim Bradley. It’s the first time he’s called me out,” tweeted Khan, who is scheduled to travel next week to Las Vegas and will sit ringside for the Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz rematch on July 31.

Khan, who along with Marquez and Diaz is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, is expected to face the winner of the lightweight-championship fight sometime in the fall.

However, the native of Bolton, England, who trains with Freddie Roach in Southern California, seems more interested in fighting Bradley.

“I’m going to Vegas and I'll talk to Golden Boy,” Khan tweeted. “I would love the fight (with Bradley). Good style for me. I’m fighting Timothy Bradley next. I’m (going to) tell Golden Boy. Let’s see if (Bradley) wants it for real. Talk is cheap.”

If talk is indeed cheap, tweeting is probably cheaper.

Fans will find out later this year if Khan really wants to tangle with Bradley.

For now, Bradley can be satisfied in the knowledge that his move up in weight had the effect on the boxing world he hoped it would. It turned heads.

“As with a handful of other elite fighters, we have decided to rank Tim Bradley in two weight classes,” said Nigel Collins, Editor-in-Chief of THE RING. “Obviously, his resume at junior welterweight, where he is THE RING’s No. 1 contender, is far more impressive than what he’s done at welterweight, hence his relatively low No. 10 rating at 147 pounds. Should Tim ultimately settle into one of the two divisions, we will drop him from the other, but at this point he deserves to be rated in both.”

In other ratings news, dual bantamweight titleholder Fernando Montiel finally broke into THE RING’s Pound-for-Pound ratings.

Montiel (43-2-2, 33 KOs), who knocked out Rafael Concepcion in the third round on Saturday, replaced former dual junior featherweight titleholder Celestino Caballero in the No. 10 spot.

Montiel, a flashy 31-year-old boxer-puncher from Los Mochis, Mexico who has held titles in three divisions (flyweight, junior bantamweight, and bantamweight), is deserving of his pound-for-pound rating.

The 13¾-year veteran is unbeaten since dropping a split decision to Jhonny Gonzalez in May of 2006 (11 bouts over a span of four years). In that time, he’s defeated RING-rated contenders such as Z Gorres, Martin Castillo and Hozumi Hasegawa. He’s traveled to other countries and defeated quality opponents (Hasegawa and Gorres). He’s blown out experienced fighters who normally go the distance or go many rounds with world-class opposition (Hasegawa, Castillo, Luis Maldonado, Diego Silva and most recently, Concepcion, who went 12 rounds with Nonito Donaire last year). He’s been THE RING’s No. 1-rated junior bantamweight and now he’s the magazine’s No. 1-rated bantamweight.

“While THE RING still considers Celestino Caballero one of the very best fighters in the world, there is no denying that his lack of activity the last few years has hurt,” said Collins. “Montiel, on the other hand, has been very active and is fighting better than at any time during his career.”

RING RATINGS UPDATE:

CRUISERWEIGHTS:

Denis Lebedev (No. 7 last week) moves to No. 6 following his impressive second-round knockout of Alexander Alexeev. Lebedev’s advancement pushes down Danny Green (No. 6 last week) to No. 7.

JUNIOR MIDDLEWIGHTS:

Joachim Alcine (No. 8 last week) exits due to his first-round TKO loss to No. 3 contender Alfredo Angulo. Alcine’s departure elevates Vanes Martirosyan (No. 9 last week) and Sergei Dzinziruk (No. 10 last week) one spot each and makes room for Saul Alvarez to return at No. 10.

WELTERWEIGHTS:

Bradley’s victory over Abregu, in his first welterweight bout since he won his first 140-pound title (against Junior Witter in May of 2008), was good enough to earn him the No. 10 position at 147 pounds. Bradley’s inclusion forces out Selcuk Aydin (No. 10 last week).

POUND-FOR-POUND:

Montiel has replaced Caballero at No. 10.