Fighter Of The Year: Manny Pacquiao

Fighter Of The Year: Manny Pacquiao

The "Pac-Man" earned his seventh world title in as many different weight classes with a 12th round technical knockout of Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14, lifting from the Puerto Rican fighter, the WBO welterweight (147 pounds) title.

In May, Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) had scored a spectacular, second-round knockout of England's Ricky Hatton, who both lost and was stopped for only the second time in his career.

Those two great performances have earned Pacquiao honors as 2009 Fighter of The Year by FanHouse, and his stoppage of Hatton, easily takes honors as KO Of The Year.

Pacquiauo is riding a winning streak of 11-0, that includes eight knockouts, including stoppages of his past four opponents, respectively, David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya, Hatton, and, Cotto.

Pacquiao was named Fighter Of The Year by The Boxing Writers Association of America for 2008, and is a likely candidate for that, yet again, this year.

All of this from a man whose country, for example, never has won an Olympic gold medal.

"It just shows how people around the world are viewing this young man, and how he's providing everyone with hope for the emergence of third-world countries," said Top Rank's Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter.

"This is a great, great phenomenon. This isn't an American athlete. This isn't a European athlete," said Arum. "This is an athlete who comes from a poor country in Asia. A country that is struggling."

And the Filipino superstar's celebrity is far from limited to the ring.

On Dec. 17, his 31st birthday, Pacquiao was named among Time Magazine's Top 25 People Who Mattered in 2009, listed alphabetically right behind U.S. President, Barack Obama.

The honor was just one among many for the cross-over star, who already was an icon in his native Philippines, where he will run for congress in the spring.

Pacquiao's humanitarian efforts during disaster relief -- he delivered food in Manila during a typhoon a week prior to his KO of Cotto -- made him the lone athlete among some 19, dignitaries to be named a recipient of the prestigious Gusi Peace Prize.

Pacquiao graced the cover of Time Magazine's Asian edition, was the subject of a full-blown feature in The New York Times, and his sculpted physique was among several internationally-known athletes featured in ESPN's Body Issue.

Pacquiao was also a hit on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where he sang a song with the band at the end of the show.



Arum compares Pacquiao's popularity favorably with that of Muhammad Ali, with whom he shares an alternate nickname, "The Greatest."

"Muhammad Ali was a beloved figure in his prime, but also a reviled figure. There were people on both sides of the political spectrum, particularly regarding the war in Vietnam. The ones that opposed it loved Ali, and the ones who were in favor of it didn't," said Arum.

"But until he was long-retired, Ali was never the universally admired figure in this country and around the world like Manny Pacquiao, who is someone different," Arum said of Pacquiao, also nicknamed, "The Pac-Man."

"Anybody who is aware of Manny Pacqiao loves him, admires him, and there are no haters," said Arum. "There is no right or left when it comes to Manny Pacquiao. That's made him a more, universally revered figure than Muhammad Ali."