Abdul El-Sayed is Sugar Ray Leonard

This is a very, very, very good thing.

If you read this site enough, you know I’m a sports journalist with a particular fondness for boxing.

Is the endeavor barbaric? Yes. Is it grotesque? Yes. Should it be outlawed? Yes. But despite all of that, boxing remains a graphic journalist’s closest friend. There’s a reason the great Ernest Hemingway was so drawn to pugilism. It’s vividness, multiplied by infinity.

I digress.

Back in the day, my favorite fighter was Sugar Ray Leonard, an Olympic gold medalist who captured world titles in five weight classes. And one of the things I most loved about Leonard was his approach. He just rarely … waited. He would punch before being punched. He would pounce as his opponent cocked a fist. Leonard was fast on his feet, swift of mind and aggressive without tiring himself out.

Truly, he was one of a kind.

I bring this up because, last night, Michigan senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed was hosting a town hall when an audience member—“Tommy”—asked whether El-Sayed would denounce the Muslim Brotherhood. And this isn’t surprising, because the GOP has been throwing its xenophobic bullshit El-Sayed’s way for months now. His opponent, Mike Rogers, is a Trump-obedient loser who has little to run on, so he’s gone nonstop ugliness over and over and over again.

To my great delight, El-Sayed has been masterful. There’s an oft-repeated approach among Democrats that we, as a party, need not be dragged into the mud. We should speak in positives; avoid the dirt, float above, happy and positive and claps and snaps.

And, eh, it sucks. It reminds me of 1988, when Michael Dukakis refused to properly address the vile Willie Horton ads—and lost to George H.W. Bush in a landslide.

Anyhow, El-Sayed brings it. He’s bold and unafraid and insanely well-spoken. Tonight, he had what I believe will go down as the moment of the campaign …

I watched it. Then watched it again.

And as “Tommy” exited the building, tail tucked between legs, I squealed with delight.

Abdul El-Sayed is Sugar Ray Leonard.

And I love Sugar Ray Leonard.