FanHouse BrianKenny

No one has yet beaten Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring, but ESPN's Brian Kenny gave Mayweather a beating in a hotly contested interview Wednesday. Kenny dodged Mayweather's verbal insults for 13 minutes and peppered Mayweather with strong arguments, making his case that Manny Pacquiao has taken the title of best pound-for-pound boxer in the world away from Mayweather, and that if Mayweather wants it back, he has to take it in the ring.

The great boxing trainer Freddie Roach made strong comments Wednesday about the controversy surrounding boxer Antonio Margarito, who is accused of attempting to sneak plaster into his hand wraps before he fought Shane Mosley on January 24.

A treat for UFC fans, as the great Brian Kenny takes a break from boxing to interview Joe Rogan about Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson:

It's always a pleasant surprise to see Kenny talking about mixed martial arts, and the fact that he does so knowledgeably is another reason to hope ESPN puts together some type of deal to show MMA.

As for Rogan's commentary, he said, of course, that the Silva-Henderson fight will be great, but he deserves to be commended for bucking the UFC company line on the potential for a Randy Couture-Fedor Emelianenko fight taking place outside UFC.

Rogan said of Mark Cuban, "having him involved in MMA is only a good thing." Somehow I don't think Dana White agrees.

Who will replace the soon-to-be-departed ESPN Radio afternoon show host Dan Patrick? I don't know who it will be, but I know who it should be: Brian Kenny.

Kenny and Eric Kuselias were the fill-in hosts on Mike and Mike in the Morning today, and Kenny was incredible. (Kuselias was fine, nothing extraordinary.) When the subject was David Beckham, Kenny had a well-informed opinion about the current state of Major League Soccer and how Beckham might change things. When the subject was Roger Clemens, Kenny casually explained the historical significance of Warren Spahn's 363 career wins and the possibility of Clemens surpassing that achievement. And, of course, when the subject was boxing -- Kenny's specialty -- he offered his usual incredibly sophisticated analysis.

Kenny is so smart, articulate and well-prepared that I would pay to hear him on the radio for four hours every day. Kenny currently does the 6 p.m. SportsCenter and Friday Night Fights, and he might have no interest in doing radio full time. But I sure wish he would. His appearance today was a revelation.