When it comes to boxing, actions speak louder than words and despite what Floyd Mayweather may say, Manny Pacquiao has once again proven that he's the best fighter in not one, but two sports. The Filipino superstar beat out welterweight champion Shane Mosley, as well as UFC champions Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva, to take home the coveted "Fighter of the Year" award at last night's 2009 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 exclusively through online fan voting. For the past two years, it was Floyd Mayweather Jr. who took home the honors, beating out Joe Calzaghe, Kelly Pavlik, Holly Holm and Georges St. Pierre in 2008 as well as Miguel Cotto, Manny Pacquiao, Randy Couture and Quinton Jackson in 2007. This year, however, Manny Pacquiao, who was a heavy betting favorite to win, left no doubt as to who the fans believe is the best fighter in both boxing and mixed martial arts.
Fellow boxer Shane Mosley was nominated for his dominant TKO victory over former champion Antonio Margarito. Undefeated UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida was chosen for his brutal knockout victory over previously unbeaten Rashad Evans and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was selected for his lopsided wins over James Irvin, Patrick Cote and Thales Leites. Despite all of those impressive accomplishments, however, it was Pacquiao's recent performances, a stunning 8th round stoppage of Oscar De La Hoya and a spectacular 2nd round knockout of Ricky Hatton, that resonated loudest amongst fans.
With the win, Manny Pacquiao now adds the 2009 Fighter of the Year ESPY Award to a trophy case that already includes quite a number of awards, including the 2006 & 2008 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year, 2006 & 2008 Boxing Writers Association Of America Fighter of the Year, 2008 Sports Illustrated Boxer of the Year, 2008 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 included by Forbes Magazine in its 2009 Celebrity 100 list and 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, Forbes also listed Pacquiao as the world's 6th highest-paid athlete.
Not bad for a guy that "Money" Mayweather refers to as "a good little fighter".
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