The Set-Up

Pansy had the stuff, but his skin was brown 
And he never got a chance at the middleweight crown. 

Mean as a panther, 
Crafty as a fox, 
He could hit like a mule, 
And he knew how to box. 
A dark-skinned jinx 
With eyes like a lynx, 
A heart like a lion, 
And a face like the Sphinx: 
Battered, flat, massive: 
Grim, 
Always impassive. 

tumblr tribute page to Joseph Moncure March