Once again, undefeated multi-division champion Floyd Mayweather has been nominated for the Best Fighter ESPY Award. The ESPY Awards, created by cable television network ESPN, is an annual ceremony that celebrates athletic performances throughout the year. Nominees for each category are chosen and the winners are then selected exclusively via online fan balloting. Mayweather will look to add a 4th award to his trophy case, having already taken home the honors in 2007, 2008, and 2010. His ring rival, Manny Pacquiao, won the award in 2009 and 2011, but this year, he was not nominated. Instead, undefeated super middleweight king Andre Ward received his first nomination and will be going head-to-head with Mayweather for the award.
Mayweather and Ward will also be joined by UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, the youngest UFC champion ever, as well as UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who extended his win streak to a UFC-best 14 victories, including a record nine straight title defenses.
ESPN lists the following achievements as the reasons for Mayweather's nomination:
- On May 5, Floyd Mayweather Jr. scored a unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto to win the WBA junior middleweight title. With that victory, Mayweather has won a championship in six different weight classes.
- He also scored a controversial fourth-round knockout against Victor Ortiz to take the WBC welterweight title. Mayweather improved to 43-0 (26 KOs) overall and 20-0 in title fights.
- The reigning WBA and WBC super-middleweight champion, boxer Andre Ward defeated Carl Froch to win the Super Six championship. Ward has a career record of 25-0.