REIGNING pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao is a cinch to win the “Fighter of the Year” award from the Boxing Writers Association of America.
BWAA president Jack Hirsch informed www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that although the boxing writers will not be voting for the 2009 awards for a few weeks yet, “it is safe to assume Manny Pacquiao will be the Fighter of the Year.”
Hirsch pointed out that it will be the third time for Pacquiao, who carved his name in the record books by winning seven world titles in seven different weight divisions, with his 12th round TKO victory over World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Miguel Cotto last Nov. 14 before at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
He said Pacquiao, with his third award, would tie the record set by Muhammad Ali and another heavyweight champion in Evander Holyfield.
Pacquiao first won in 2006 and then again last year when he beat Juan Manuel Marquez by a split decision to win the World Boxing Council super featherweight title, ripped WBC lightweight champion David Diaz apart in nine rounds and pulverized Oscar De La Hoya into retirement after The Golden Boy called it quits before the start of the eighth round.
Hirsch told Standard Today that trainer Freddie Roach has a good chance of being the Trainer of the Year again, but is not a sure thing like Pacquiao.
“Just because Pacquiao wins, it does not mean that Roach automatically does as well,” said Hirsch, who however also praised Roach for helping turn around the career of Britain’s Amir Khan after his first-round knockout of Breidis Prescott.
Asked whether the Pacquiao could beat undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. should they face each other sometime this year, Hirsch replied: “Of course, but I am not sure if he will. That is the type of fight that needs to be analyzed carefully before a prediction can be made.”
Pacquiao first won the Edward J. Neil Trophy for Fighter of the Year in a landslide vote for his exploits in 2006.
Dennis Nolan of Boxing Collectors News described Pacquiao as “a two-fisted dynamo from the Philippines who has established himself as one of the world’s top pound-for-pound gladiators as well as one of the most exciting performers in the sport.
