By Dr. Peter Edwards

What a month so far in the sport of boxing. It's hard to believe that we are only halfway through the month of June, two big weekends of boxing staged already and two more big weekends of boxing are left. This Saturday night, Antonio Tarver gets one last shot for redemption when he faces the man that defeated him last year by way of split decision, Glen "Road Warrior" Johnson. Next Saturday night, Arturo Gatti and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. battle in the what experts perceive as the most important fight for both fighters' careers.

Two weeks ago, Ricky Hatton joined the ranks of boxing's elite when he stopped the junior welterweight king Kostya Tszyu by way of a dominating performance in Manchester, England. A week later, the career of Mike Tyson ended when he was stopped by heavyweight journeyman Kevin McBride. The very same night that Mike Tyson was ending his career, Miguel Cotto was taking another step towards superstardom.

Who's Hot

Miguel Cotto - A dominating win over Muhammad Abdullaev has sent the stock of this young Puerto Rican soaring. Rather then stand toe to toe with his hard punching opponent, Cotto allowed Abdullaev to take the lead. Once Abdullaev ould start to come forward, Cotto would allow himself to get backed into the ropes and let Abdullaev unload while he countered the punches. The end result saw a badly beaten Abdullaev signal to the referee to stop the fight as he could no longer see out of his swollen shut right eye. Cotto gained another quality win over a quality opponent and gained a measure of revenge for the Olympic loss to Abdullaev.

Ricky Hatton - He stops the 3rd rated pound for pound fighter in the world in convincing fashion. Kostya Tszyu was a 4-1 favorite against Hatton, but Ricky did not let the odds bother him one bit. Hatton stayed right in the face of Tszyu and never let him get any distance between them. It wasnt easy, Kostya fought to the very end, but was unable to compete with the tremendous workrate of Hatton and decided against coming out for the final round.

Kevin McBride - Mr. McBride learned that beating an old Mike Tyson is still not an easy task. McBride was on the receiving end of an intentional low blow, a bad cut over his left eye due to Tyson intentionally using his head and he almost had his arm broken from a Tyson armbar. The only foul Tyson was unable to commit on the fight is to bite the ears of McBride, but McBride recently revealed to the media that Iron Mike tried to bite his nipple off. Kevin maintained his cool, kept punching and leaning his 6'6, 270 pound frame on Mike. Don't be surprised to see McBride thrown into a big fight as a result of his win over Tyson.

Who's Not

Mike Tyson - The man once known as the "baddest man on the planet", was unable to defeat an unknown journeyman this past Saturday night. Even if Tyson decides at some point that he wants to continue fighting, the New York State Athletic Commission should step in and suspend him from active fighting in the same fashion as Evander Holyfield. Tyson looked just as bad against McBride as Holyfield did against Larry Donald in what turned out to be Evander's final bout. At least Evander did not use his head against Donald or try and break Donald's arm, hit him low or bite his nipple. The most important thing is Evander did not quit, he finished the fight on his feet and took the loss on the chin. The stigma of Tyson had to come crashing down at some point and boy did it crash against McBride.

Diego Corrales - The word on the street is that Diego Corrales is appealing the decision of the WBC which orders him to have an immediate rematch with Jose Luis Castillo. Corrales is busy trying to lock down a huge payday against IBF junior welterweight sensation Ricky Hatton instead. Corrales beat Castillo in what people are calling the fight of the decade, he came off the deck twice in the tenth round and went on to stop Castillo in the very same round. The public is demanding this rematch, boxing needs this rematch and Jose Luis Castillo deserves this rematch. If Corrales is the true champion that he claims to be, then he should give Castillo the very same opportunity that Castillo gave to him.

Arturo Gatti - It troubles me when I see Gatti and his camp predicting an "easy night" over the man who is ranked in the secondary slot as the best pound for pound fighter in the world. With the exception of Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather is the toughest opponent Arturo has been signed to fight in his entire career. Gatti has never beaten an opponent rated in the top 3 of any division which he has graced. If Arturo thinks Mayweather will be an "easy night", we can expect Floyd to make it an early night.