It has been a phenomenal year for Manny Pacquiao, with the reigning pound-for-pound fighter of the world showing no signs of slowing down.
The past year, Pacquiao won two fights against two of the toughest boxers in their respective weight divisions, while at the same time earning citations left and right.
The award given by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) served as the highlight of his 15-year professional career.
Pacquiao was named as the 2009 Fighter of the Year and Fighter of the Decade by the BWAA, an award that earned him true international recognition, cementing his place alongside boxing legends Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson.
He dominated Joshua Clottey in their 12-round World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title fight in March, winning by unanimous decision, then battered the bigger Antonio Margarito in November to claim the World Boxing Council (WBC) super welterweight belt.
The WBC super welterweight crown is the eighth won by Pacquiao in the same number of weight classes, becoming the first boxer ever to reach that milestone.
He won his first world title at 112 lbs (WBC flyweight), then won seven more in the following weight divisions: 122, International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior featherweight; 126, The Ring featherweight; 130, WBC super featherweight; 135, WBC lightweight; 140, The Ring junior welterweight; 147, WBO welterweight; and 154, WBC super welterweight.
Aside from being a world-class champion boxer, Pacquiao is now making a name as a lawmaker after being elected as the representative of the lone district of Sarangani province in the 15th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines.
His numerous accomplishments in 2010 landed him a spot in the Top 10 sports stories in
The Atlantic.com, a US-based media company.
Pacquiao was also included in the Top 50 boxers by Bleacher Report, a website that publishes original and entertaining sports editorial content.
Winning eight world titles while registering stoppage victories over boxing greats Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya in the process were the reasons why Pacquiao was included in the list.
Pacquiao's ring return is scheduled on May 7, when he defends his WBO welterweight title against former three-time world champion Shane Mosley.
– Jon Perez, KY, GMANews.TV
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