February's Who's Hot and Who's Not

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

By Dr. Peter Edwards

Who’s Hot

Manny Pacquiao – Finally dumping his old management and picking up the services of very well known American boxing adviser/manager Shelly Finkel. Obviously tired of his career moving at a slow pace, the “Pacman” made the necessary moves that may bring his already successful career to the next level.

Zab Judah – Finally the talented fighter from Brooklyn, New York gets his career in check. He finally rededicated himself to the sport of Boxing and it paid off in a big way. He accepted a chump change payday of $100,000 dollars, twelve times less then the $1.2 million of Cory Spinks in order to make the rematch. There was no playing around in the Spinks rematch as Zab came, he saw and he took the undisputed welterweight crown by way of a big technical knock-out. Now Zab has lined himself up for huge paydays against the likes of Kostya Tszyu, Oscar De La Hoya or Shane Mosley.

Cory Spinks – For being humble in defeat. The man made no excuses, he had over 20,000 fans behind him and took the loss on the chin like a man.

Monte Barrett – The never say die style of Monte Barrett has now propelled his career to a possible title shot against IBF champion Chris Byrd.  He took some and gave some but in the end, he was the man standing with his hand raised in the air. Monte said “What The Heck” and knocked out the undefeated Beck.

Who’s Not

Floyd Mayweather – His temper and reckless lifestyle has finally caught up with him. Floyd recently pleaded no-contest to assault charges, the plea may cost him a multi-million dollar payday against Arturo Gatti this coming June. This guy is getting just as many KOs outside of the ring as he is inside the ring.

Don King – Shame on Don King for giving Andrew Golota a third consecutive shot at a heavyweight title. While fighters like Monte Barrett, Calvin Brock and Samuel Peter are are hungry and searching for a title shot. Golota is getting title shot after shot after shot. I can’t recall the any other time in Boxing history when a fighter fought three different champions within the same division in back to back fashion like Golota. I like Andrew and respect the fact that he tries to give a solid effort most of the time but three title shots in a row is a bit too much for me to swallow.

Felix Trinidad – For fighting another fighter who is not a legitimate middleweight. Tito is now a full blow middleweight who comes into the ring weighing like a light heavyweight. Wright is fast and crafty but he will be blown away by the accurate punching power and underestimated hand speed of Tito. I’ve seen a few people make a case for Wright in winning this fight and those people need to really get a grip on reality. As good as Winky is, his aura of being a top fighter is based on a close decision loss to Fernando Vargas and two wins over a much smaller Shane Mosley. Trinidad should have fought Felix Sturm, Jermain Taylor or even Sam Soliman. There is too much talent at 160 to fight guys who are below your weight.