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In some years, the debate over who should be the Boxer of the Year is fierce. Not this year. It's a landslide, and the unanimous winner must be Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao. The sensation can only hope the congressional seat in his home country is won as easily as his fights in the ring were in the year 2009.
Manny Pacquiao only fought two times in 2009, but that's all he needed to win the Fighter of the Year award. He was also widely viewed as the winner in 2008, when he fought three times in three weight classes, won two title belts, and beat the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez and Oscar De La Hoya. Of course he's also the reigning pound for pound champion. Not only that, but he may just be the Fighter of the Decade from 2000-2009.
Getting back to 2009, Pacquiao met once beaten Ricky Hatton in May. It was just Pacquiao's second fight above the lightweight limit of 135 lbs, and regardless of your views on Hatton, he was still the champion in the junior welterweight division. Pacquiao blitzed him and planted him permanently into the canvas in the second round.
Pacquiao's second appearance of the year was against one of the best welterweights in the world, Miguel Cotto. This was billed as Pacquiao's first true test against a legit, hard hitting, hard willed, bigger man. Pacquiao knocked him down in the third and fourth rounds, and continued to batter Cotto until the referee was forced to stop the action in the 12th round.
The win left no doubt in anyone's mind that Manny Pacquiao was not just one of the best fighters in the world, he was one of the best welterweights in the world and he was certainly the 2009 Fighter of the Year.
Manny Pacquiao only fought two times in 2009, but that's all he needed to win the Fighter of the Year award. He was also widely viewed as the winner in 2008, when he fought three times in three weight classes, won two title belts, and beat the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez and Oscar De La Hoya. Of course he's also the reigning pound for pound champion. Not only that, but he may just be the Fighter of the Decade from 2000-2009.
Getting back to 2009, Pacquiao met once beaten Ricky Hatton in May. It was just Pacquiao's second fight above the lightweight limit of 135 lbs, and regardless of your views on Hatton, he was still the champion in the junior welterweight division. Pacquiao blitzed him and planted him permanently into the canvas in the second round.
Pacquiao's second appearance of the year was against one of the best welterweights in the world, Miguel Cotto. This was billed as Pacquiao's first true test against a legit, hard hitting, hard willed, bigger man. Pacquiao knocked him down in the third and fourth rounds, and continued to batter Cotto until the referee was forced to stop the action in the 12th round.
The win left no doubt in anyone's mind that Manny Pacquiao was not just one of the best fighters in the world, he was one of the best welterweights in the world and he was certainly the 2009 Fighter of the Year.
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