Pac-man-Yahoo Sports' Fighter of the Year
by Kevin Lole (Yahoo Sports columnist)
http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_ylt=AmSLyo1lEoCTI9irr7oJ_46UxLYF?slug=...
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Picking the Fighter of the Year for 2009 is easy. Who, other than Manny Pacquiao, could it possibly be?
There were many brilliant individual performances in 2009, but no boxer accomplished as much in the year as Pacquiao did with his devastatingly quick knockout of Ricky Hatton and his 12-round bludgeoning of Miguel Cotto. In fights in which there were more than a handful of knowledgeable boxing experts who thought he might lose both of his fights, Pacquiao breezed to dominant victories in each.
Burt Sugar, a boxing historian whose book “Boxing’s Greatest Fighters” is a list of his choices of the top 100 fighters ever, said Pacquiao deserves to be considered one of the 25 greatest fighters of all time.
That’s quite a statement considering the men that Sugar’s book includes in the top 25 – names like Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Willie Pep, Joe Louis, Harry Greb, Benny Leonard, Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran, Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, Mickey Walker, Tony Canzoneri, Gene Tunney, Rocky Marciano, Joe Gans, Sam Langford, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jimmy Wilde, Stanley Ketchel, Barney Ross, Jimmy McLarnin, Archie Moore, Marcel Cerdan, Ezzard Charles and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Sugar said Pacquiao is likely the greatest Asian-born fighter ever as well as arguably the best left-hander in history.
Pacquiao wins the award in 2009 based on unexpectedly one-sided victories over Hatton and Cotto, each of whom spent time in the pound-for-pound top 10 at some point in their careers.
There were several exceptional performers in 2009, but it’s hard to consider most of them for Fighter of the Year. Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were dominant in their fights, but each man only competed once.
But by being so dominant against elite competition, Manny Pacquiao has cinched the spot as the Yahoo! Sports Fighter of the Year for 2009.
Galing ni kabayan!:)
"I am not a native English speaker. So don't mock me for my grammar mistakes."
- anonymous
what else i can add? ah! quoting bob arum's statement (i paraphrased it cause i can't remember exactly arum's words), "manny is the best fighter of the century not just because he fought well, but mainly, he never stopped learning. his humility glides him to where he is right now. he is willing to be trained, willing to be coached."
an attitude of real champion. wish we could have his humility and desire to always learn new things.
progress