by David P. Greisman - Once again, a Filipino fighter is an early frontrunner for “Fighter of the Year.”
It’s definitely not Manny Pacquiao, though, not with his controversial split decision loss earlier this year against Timothy Bradley. That means this will be the third straight year with another boxer receiving the honor.
Pacquiao had quite a run, winning the award three times in four years, being recognized for his 2006 campaign (two wins over Erik Morales book-ending a victory over Oscar Larios), his 2008 ascendance (a close decision win over Juan Manuel Marquez at junior lightweight, then stellar stoppages of David Diaz at lightweight and Oscar De La Hoya) and his continued dominance in 2009 (a one-punch knockout of Ricky Hatton, then prolonged punishment delivered to Miguel Cotto).
Despite Pacquiao’s winning streak continuing through 2010 and 2011, other boxers had better years: Sergio Martinez captured the award after winning the legit, lineal middleweight championship from Kelly Pavlik, then defending it with an eye-opening one-punch knockout of Paul Williams; and Andre Ward outclassed the rest last year, taking decisions over Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch, completing his ascent to the top of the super middleweight division and making it look easy. [Click Here To Read More]
It’s definitely not Manny Pacquiao, though, not with his controversial split decision loss earlier this year against Timothy Bradley. That means this will be the third straight year with another boxer receiving the honor.
Pacquiao had quite a run, winning the award three times in four years, being recognized for his 2006 campaign (two wins over Erik Morales book-ending a victory over Oscar Larios), his 2008 ascendance (a close decision win over Juan Manuel Marquez at junior lightweight, then stellar stoppages of David Diaz at lightweight and Oscar De La Hoya) and his continued dominance in 2009 (a one-punch knockout of Ricky Hatton, then prolonged punishment delivered to Miguel Cotto).
Despite Pacquiao’s winning streak continuing through 2010 and 2011, other boxers had better years: Sergio Martinez captured the award after winning the legit, lineal middleweight championship from Kelly Pavlik, then defending it with an eye-opening one-punch knockout of Paul Williams; and Andre Ward outclassed the rest last year, taking decisions over Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch, completing his ascent to the top of the super middleweight division and making it look easy. [Click Here To Read More]
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