Pacman gets 3rd Fighter of Year award

MANILA, Philippines - The Boxing Writers Association of America has chosen Manny Pacquiao as its Fighter of the Year for 2009, and in the process made the charismatic Filipino superstar only the fifth fighter in history to win the prestigious award three times.

Muhammad Ali, Jose Frazier, Sugar Ray Leonard and Evander Holyfield are the other three-time recipients of the award, which the BWAA has handed out yearly since it named Jack Dempsey as winner in 1938 or 71 years ago.

Ali, who will be remembered as “The Greatest,” won the award in 1965, 1974 and 1975, the year he shared it with Frazier who had won its previously in 1961 and 1971. It was in 1975 that Ali and Frazier staged the historic “Thrilla in Manila.”

Leonard won it in 1976, 1979 and 1981 while Holyfield earned the nod of the BWAA in 1990, 1996 and 1997. Among the two-time winners are Floyd Patterson, Carmen Basilio, Dick Tiger, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Mike Tyson.

Oscar dela Hoya, known as boxing’s golden boy, only won the award once, in 1995. as well as Ricky Hatton in 2005 and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2007. The fact that Pacquiao has won it thrice only cements his status as the best there is today.

As an icing on the cake, the BWAA has also named Pacquiao as the Fighter of the Decade, an award that was bestowed to the 31-year-old pound-for-pound champion by the Ring Magazine, the bible of boxing, and ESPN, the mother of all sports channels.

Pacquiao won his first Fighter of the Year award in 2006, the year he knocked out Erik Morales twice, and in 2008, the year he jumped three divisions higher in beating Juan Manuel Marquez (130 lb), David Diaz (135 lb) and Dela Hoya (147 lb).

Pacquiao demolished Ricky Hatton in May last year to win the IBO junior-welterweight title and Miguel Cotto in November for the WBO welterweight crown, making him the only boxer in history to win seven world titles in seven different weight classes.

Pacquiao’s chief trainer, Freddie Roach, has his fourth Trainer of the Year in the bag. He is the only trainer so far to receive the BWAA trainer three times (2003, 2006 and 2008) and this fourth one will put more distance between him and the rest.

“Manny and I are a great team and to win this award you need a great fighter. It’s my favorite award because its named after my trainer,” Roach told ESPN.com. referring to his trainer, the late Eddie Futch, who also took him in as an assistant.

“I give Eddie all the credit for where I am today. He gave me great guidance during my apprenticeship with him,” added Roach. The BWAA will hand out the awards on June 11 in New York.

His third Fighter of the Year award from the BWAA should serve Pacquiao in good stead as he prepares for his March 13 fight with Josh Clottey at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

More importantly, the award should put to rest allegations that Pacquiao, who had won titles as a flyweight, super-bantamweight, featherweight, super-featherweight and lightweight, is into performance-enhancing drugs.