Pacman chosen 'Fighter of the Year' anew

NEW YORK – Filipino star Manny Pacquiao has been voted fighter of the year by the Boxing Writers Association of America after a sweep of his three fights last year, highlighted by a dominating win over Oscar De La Hoya.

Joe Calzaghe was runner-up, but voted manager of the year on Tuesday for guiding his own career. The undefeated former super middleweight champion recently retired.

Pacquiao won three times in different weight divisions in 2008, beating Juan Manuel Marquez in March and David Diaz in June before stopping the fancied De La Hoya in December.

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, was voted trainer of the year, the third time he has won the award.

The super bantamweight rubber match between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez was chosen fight of the year. Vazquez won the fight by split decision.

The awards will be presented at the annual BWAA dinner on June 12 in New York.

This marks the second time Pacquiao has received the Edward J. Neil award, having also won it in 2006. But his performance in 2008 bordered on historic.

He kicked off his campaign with a split decision victory over Marquez to capture the WBC super featherweight title in March.

In June, he stopped Diaz in nine rounds to win the WBC lightweight title, then battered De La Hoya into submission after eight rounds of a welterweight bout.

The victories firmly established the Gen. Santos native as the top pound-for-pound boxer in the sport.

Calzaghe, who also enjoyed an excellent year with victories over Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, finished second to Pacquiao for Fighter of the Year.

Other award winners included: ShoBox commentator Steve Farhood for the “Long and Meritorious Service” award; HBO’s Harold Lederman won for “Excellence in Broadcast Journalism; Alan Hopper of Don King Productions was voted the “Good Guy” award, while journalist George Kimball and former champion Genaro Hernandez are co-winners of the Crawford Award for perseverance in overcoming adversity.

The “Fight of the Year” was the rubber-match between Vazquez and Marquez, which the former won in a close decision.        – AP/New York Post