By Dr. Peter Edwards

We are back with the first April edition of Who's Hot, Who's Not. April is a huge month for boxing, the very anticipated ESPN pay per view, the battle between John Ruiz and James Toney and the return of Wladimir Klitschko. After dealing with a boxing drought in March, the month of April will provide more then enough boxing action. Let's get into this month's candidates.

Who's Hot

Shane Mosley - Realizing that he was not cut out for the junior middleweight division. He could of been stubborn like many other fighters and stayed in a division where he was too small, but had enough smarts to move back down to a division where he is very effective. While not the biggest puncher at 154, Mosley should pack more then enough pop at 147. Mosley might be one of the more stronger punchers at welterweight. Mosley could of made his return against a journeyman or an undefeated no-name with a padded record, but decided to go up against the very tough David Estrada. Estrada can punch, he likes to move forward and is on a roll. Estrada has beaten two undefeated rising prospects in his last two fights and wants to cap off a great run by beating a fighter like Shane Mosley. The ace in Estrada's corner is that he is partially trained by the one of greatest trainers in boxing history, Angelo Dundee. Mosley will have to be at his best to beat Estrada because Estrada is a hungry fighter coming to make a statement. Mosley has not had a victory since September of 2003 against Oscar De La Hoya, many thought Oscar should of easily got that decision. If you want to make a case that the De La Hoya fight should of been a loss for Mosley, then his last victory would of been against Adrian Stone in July of 2001!

Jermain Taylor - For standing his ground against Bernard Hopkins. Taylor agreed to the terms Hopkins laid down for their fight not once but twice. Two times the fight should of been a done deal and two times Hopkins came back with a new set of demands. The final demands made by Hopkins with respect to how the money would be split in the fight and the rematch was beyond low for a fighter that is hot like Taylor. Taylor has learned real quick that when you are a nice guy in boxing, people try to take advantage of you.

Jorge Barrios - Talk about getting himself back in the spotlight. Barrios' win over the undefeated WBO super featherweight champion Mike Anchondo in four rounds was very impressive. Barrios is now promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and only good things will happen for him as time goes on. After suffering a heart breaking TKO loss to Acelino Freitas in a very close fight of the year caliber bout, some fans thought they would never see Barrios again. To the delight of hardcore boxing fans, Barrios is back in full force. Barrios could be matched in some explosive bouts against some of the other top fighters in his weight class. Bouts against Pacquiao, Morales or Barrera are pay per view quality main events. Great to see a Barrios back in mix.

Who's Not

Bernard Hopkins - As usual, Hopkins shows that he is the most stubborn man in boxing. After coming to terms with Jermain Taylor for a July 16th meeting twice, he felt the terms were not good enough and decided to renegotiate for a third time. The final demands of Hopkins not only made a potential mega clash with rising star Jermain Taylor fall apart, it also left a countless amount of fans angry. The post shots that Hopkins took a Taylor to justify his demands were ridiculous. Hopkins said he is the bigger name and Taylor is not even an Olympic Gold Medal winner. Well Mr. Hopkins, Taylor may not be a Gold Medal winner, but he is a 2000 Bronze Medal winner in the Olympics, a 2000 Eastern Olympic Trials champion, a Two-time National Golden Gloves Champion ('98 & '99), a 1998 Goodwill Games Bronze Medalist and a Two-time U.S. Championships Semifinalist. I won't even go into the fact that Jermain is also the hottest rising star in boxing. Hopkins says that he will fight Felix Sturm instead of Taylor. As usual, Hopkins is giving the fans what they "don't" want.

Marco Antonio Barrera - He needs to fight Manny Pacquiao, Barrera's excuse for not facing Pacquiao next is not valid enough. Marco is not worried about what the public will think, he is worried about what Mexcian rival Erik Morales will say. Barrera is afraid that is he beats Pacquiao, Morales will say that he only beat him because he softened him up for Barrera. Morales made similar comments about Barrera's comeback win over Paulie Ayala, Morales said that he beat Ayala so bad a few years earlier that Ayala was never the same fighter. Barrera cannot avoid Pacquiao for too long, he needs to fight Manny for his own sake. Pacquiao's loss to Morales was a close fight and Pacquiao had his moments. Barrera needs to fight Pacquiao before Manny has another big fight. Should Pacquiao loss another big fight or possibly get knocked out, a rematch with Barrera would not be worth much in dollars or bragging rights. Marco, the time is now.

Showtime - How can they possibly put a fight with Mike Tyson and Kevin McBride on pay per view? Tyson is coming off a four round knockout loss and McBride is a nobody. Some will say that Danny Williams was a nobody when he fought Tyson, but McBride is beyond unknown. Williams at least had a decent following in the UK and was known as a big puncher. There is no reason for this fight to be on pay per view, Tyson has had more comeback then Liz Taylor has had husbands. Bob Arum had the perfect comeback plan for Tyson and it did not involve pay per view. Even Arum said that the fans are getting fed up of paying for these Tyson pay per views, Tyson must be showcased on regular televised shows and showcased often. If Tyson knocks out McBride in one round, it will prove NOTHING as far as Tyson being a legit contender. As usual, the boxing fan has to fork over the hard earned dollar because of the greed of promoters and cable companies.

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