Jerry Greene of Espn.com?s ?Sunday Brunch? hit us with a couple of gems in his July 21 column concerning the failed Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather megafight. After beginning his column with ?Does anybody out there understand boxing anymore??, Greene goes on to prove that if anyone does, it is certainly not him.
Let?s head to the highlights: ?The Hulk has the Leader?, Greene wrote. ?Professor X has Magneto. Superman has Lex Luthor. And, of course, Batman has the Joker. In every case, the nemesis is always ready for a fight. It?s what they do. Pac-Man is ready ? but Pretty Boy has taken a powder. How wrong is that? So now Pacquiao plans to fight Antonio Margarito, who is apparently pretty good but can hardly be classified as a nemesis. Back in Jan. 2009, Margarito lost his California fighting license when plastic-covered inserts were found in his hand wraps right before his fight with Shane Mosley. Granted, he must have needed them as Mosley cleaned his clock. As far as nemeses go, Margarito isn?t even the Penguin.?
As much as I love comic book comparisons, and as much as I do agree that Mayweather is the perfect comic book villain counterpart to Pacquaio, a great case can be made for Antonio Margarito. Margarito?s loaded hand wraps not only give him a physical comic book component but a mental one as well. While Mayweather is like the Lex Luthor to Pacquiao?s Superman (er, Wapakman), Margarito?s loaded hand wraps bear a better comparison to the powered exoskeleton that Luthor would wear from time to time. Mixing comic book superheros and villains mythos a bit, Margarito is at least the Doctor Doom to Pacquaio?s Captain America (er, Captain Philippine). Doctor Doom was scarred physically and mentally by a metal mask attached to his face and routinely constructed devices with the purpose of gaining powers. Who wouldn?t want to see The Pacman flatten a guy like that? ?Numerous commentators are calling the unbeaten Mayweather a ?loser? for ?ducking? the Pac-Man. However, we have yet to hear of a critic saying that to Mayweather?s face?, Greene wrote.
For a critique of this comment we have to go no further than ESPN itself. Cue Brian Kenny:
If Greene had used any of the super powers offered up Marshall McLuhan-like to the common man, powers such as ?google search?? or ?water-cooler conversation?, he might have avoided this second misstep, although it might have taken until lunch or afternoon snack to get the article out.
