By Dr. Peter Edwards 

The mid-February Who’s Hot and Who’s Not will focus on the young, the old and the just plain delusional. 
 
Who's Hot

Jermain Taylor: After two difficult battles with former middleweight gatekeeper Bernard Hopkins, the young undefeated champion from Arkansas is making his 2006 middleweight debut against Winky Wright in June.
There were many critics out there, myself included, who felt Jermain would not rush into a bout with Wright, but rather face some form of shoemaker to kill time. Sam Soliman was in the running for Jermain's first post-Hopkins opponent, which drew criticism from many.

The original deal breaker, which became the dealmaker, was a 55-45 split of the pie in Taylor's favor. A win over Wright should catapult Taylor in the pound-for-pound rankings. Unlike Hopkins, Wright can't crack an egg with his hardest shot. It will be interesting to see if Taylor, unlike Felix Trinidad, fights Wright in a more aggressive manner.

Luis Collazo: The WBA welterweight champion made a very bold move during the week. He signed contracts to fight every single major welterweight in the business. You name them and he sign to fight them. Collazo, tired or waiting for a major fight, signed contracts to fight every name fighter in his division to prove that he is not ducking any of them.

The sport needs more fighters like Collazo.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.: I hate to say it, but Zab Judah may have been the best choice for Mayweather's next fight. While I don't agree with the $45 dollar price tag, I do agree with the choice of opponent. Judah, is still more dangerous than Carlos Baldomir, and will likely make this a much more competitive fight. Styles make fights and Baldomir's style is tailor made for a guy like Mayweather.

Mayweather has taken quite a bit of criticism for the facing Judah. Many feel a fighter coming off a loss should not be rewarded with a pay-per-view date against the best fighter in the sport. There is plenty of merit in that statement, but the decision also has to do with the current situation.

Other choice opponents like Ricky Hatton, Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto were all unavailable to make the April date for one reason or another. Again, I don't agree with the fight being staged on pay-per-view, but it should be a decent scrap while it lasts.

Who's Not

Antonio Tarver: Reports have indicated that a June 10 pay-per-view date with former middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins is almost a done deal. Tarver last fought Roy Jones Jr., who was coming back from back to back losses, and now faces Hopkins, who is coming back from back to back losses.

Tarver, in various interviews, had stated that he would not be able to jump back down to light heavyweight in a hurry. He promised a pit-stop at cruiserweight. So much for promises. After chasing former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson for a bout and hitting a dead end, Tarver wants the former middleweight king to meet him at 175 pounds.

Some may not agree with me, but I think Tarver is way too big for Hopkins and the fight could end up being a snoozefest as a result. Hopkins, who weighed around 157-160 for his last couple of bouts, will likely not be a solid light heavyweight for the bout. Tarver, who will have to work hard in order to make 175 pounds, will likely weight close to 190 pounds on the night of the fight.

I know the bout is happening for financial reasons, because I don't see what Tarver would gain by beating Hopkins. Hopkins on the other hand has everything to gain and nothing to lose. If he loses, he can say he fought nearly every bout of his career at 160 pounds and meeting Tarver, two weight classes above his career fighting weight, was just too much. Should Hopkins upset Tarver, he would stamp a huge exclamation point on a glorious, hall-of-fame-bound career.

Evander Holyfield: The man needs to retire. Holyfield is now off suspension and is able to fight. The problem is that not only does Holyfield plan to fight again, he still has delusional fantasies about once again capturing the heavyweight title of the world. Holyfield is 2-5-1 in his last eight bouts, dropping three in a row, and has not fought since November of 2004. If the people around him really cared about him, they would not let him fight.

Winky Wright: Wright finally comes to his senses and makes the June bout with Taylor a reality. Fantasies about becoming a promoter is the new boxing trend. What most fighters fail to realize is the fact that Oscar De La Hoya, one of the most popular fighters of all-time, has been one of the very few fighters to actually become a successful promoter.

Wright has never been a ticket seller, and his defensive fighting style has never appealed to a majority of the boxing public. Aligning himself with Felix Trinidad is not the answer to a successful promotional company. De La Hoya made some smarts moves, grabbing three of the most well-known fighters in the sport and making them partners.

Once De La Hoya grabbed Shane Mosley, Hopkins and Marco Antonio Barrera, the Golden Boy banner went from being a prospect to a major player in a very short amount of time. Since Trinidad is retired, he is not much use to Wright, other than being a recognized name.

Wright should forget Winky Promotions and focus on the biggest fight of his career. Taylor is not one-dimensional like Trinidad, and seems to have solved all of his stamina issues. Wright is facing the strongest fighter of his career, and the results will become disastrous if his head is not 100 percent into the fight.