NOT even the legendary Flash Elorde was able to win it.
The Ring magazine, acknowledged as The Bible of Boxing, has named Manny Pacquiao the 2006 Fighter of the Year, as the hard-hitting lefty became the first Filipino to win the coveted award.
“Although Pacquiao tallied three impressive victories in ‘06, it was the manner in which he accomplished them, as opposed to the victories themselves, that earned him the distinction,” The Ring said of Pacquiao in its year-ending April 2007 issue that will hit the stands early next month.
“The scary part is that he’s still improving,” added The Ring, founded in 1922 by Hall of Fame inductee Nat Fleischer.
Pacquiao started 2006 with a bang by destroying Erik Morales in the 10th round of a rematch held at The Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on January 21.
Six months later, Pacquiao returned to the ring and treated his Filipino fans to dazzling display of punching precision and power by outclassing the dangerous Oscar Larios on July 2 at the historic Araneta Coliseum, where Ali and Frazier waged a bloody 14-rounder in 1975.
Stung by his detractors that he only caught Morales, nicknamed ‘El Terrible’ on a bad night, Pacquiao agreed to give the Mexican hitman a chance at closing out the trilogy in style when they locked horns anew on Nov. 18, also at the spacious Thomas and Mack Center, where on that night, 18,000-plus fans were in attendance.
Pacquiao, then 27, proved them all wrong by leaving Morales, 30, in a pile of mess in less than three rounds that left even the most highly-discriminating fight fans in awe of Pacquiao’s incredible strength.
Pacquiao thus became only the seventh lighter weight fighter to be named The Ring’s top fighter.
Henry Armstrong won it in 1928 and he was followed by Willie Pep (1945), Carlos Zarate (1977), Salvador Sanchez (1981), Michael Carbajal (1993) and Paulie Ayala (1999).
No other Asian fighter has been named recipient of the prestigious award.
