When it comes to boxing, actions speak louder than words and once again, pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao has proven that he's the best fighter in not one, but two sports. The Filipino superstar beat out future Hall of Fame legend Bernard Hopkins, Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones to take home the coveted "Fighter of the Year" award at the 2011 ESPY Awards.
The ESPY Awards is an annual sports awards event created by cable television network ESPN. Nominees for each category are selected by the ESPY Select Nominating Committee and the award winners are chosen through online fan voting. This marks the third year in a row that Pacquiao was nominated for the coveted award, although officially he's been nominated a total of four times. Last year, undefeated pound-for-pound champion Floyd Mayweather took back the honors from Pacquiao, who beat out Shane Mosley, Lyoto Machida, and Anderson Silva to win the award in 2009. This year, however, Manny Pacquiao left no doubt as to who the fans believe is the best fighter in both boxing and mixed martial arts.
Fellow boxer Bernard Hopkins was nominated for becoming the oldest boxer to win a major world title, and Sergio Martinez was nominated for successfully defending his crown twice with impressive knockout victories. Pacquiao was also pitted against two UFC champions, namely Jon Jones, the youngest UFC champion ever, as well as UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who also had two successful title defenses, bringing his streak to six. Despite all of those impressive accomplishments, however, it was Pacquiao's recent performances, unanimous decision victory against Antonio Margarito to win the WBC's 154-pound title, becoming boxing's first eight-division champion, and his dominant unanimous decision victory over Shane Mosley, that resonated loudest amongst fans.
With the win, Manny Pacquiao now adds the 2011 Fighter of the Year ESPY Award to a trophy case that already includes quite a number of awards, including the 2009 Fighter of the Year ESPY Award, the 2006, 2008 & 2009 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year, the 2006, 2008 & 2009 Boxing Writers Association Of America Fighter of the Year, the 2008 Sports Illustrated Boxer of the Year, the 2008 & 2009 ESPN Star's Champion of Champions, 2008 Yahoo Sports Fighter of the Year and of course The Ring Magazine #1 Pound For Pound Fighter. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that he was selected by Time Magazine as one of the world's most influential people in 2009 for his exploits in boxing and his influence among the Filipino people. If that wasn't enough, the Boxing Writers Association of America also names him the 2000-2009 Fighter of the Decade.
Not bad for a guy who is just "doing my job".
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