The Philippine Sportswriter Association has voted Manny Pacquiao the athlete of the decade. The Associated Press voted Tiger Woods the athlete of the decade. But who is the real athlete of the decade? Let’s examine some of their accomplishments and make our own vote.
Manny Pacquiao won 26 of his 27 fights this decade on his way to winning 7 titles in 7 different weight classes which has never been done before in the history of Boxing. Pacquiao also defeated the decades’s biggest names like Oscar De La Hoya. He is considered the pound for pound best fighter in the world.
Tiger Woods has long been considered the greatest golfer in the world. He won 64 tournaments including 12 majors during the decade. Woods won more tournaments in the decade than all but 4 golfers have ever won in their career. Woods made over 81 million dollars in winnings during the decade.
Now, I’m going to let you think about your answer before I give mine.
First off, I don’t think golfers should even be considered athletes. Second, there’s no way Tiger Woods should have been voted over some of the other guys on the list. Tennis star Roger Federer has won more grand slam titles in the history of tennis and he finished 3rd. Tennis players will be chasing Roger’s career records for decades to come. Woods is still chasing Jack Nicklaus. But let’s get back to the comparison with Pac-Man.
The worse thing about all of this is the fact that Pacquiao didn’t even crack the list. This man has put on a historical march to boxing immortality and he’s not even considered in the same breath with a golfer, a swimmer, a tennis player, a sprinter, and a cyclist. Sometimes the American media can have extreme tunnel vision. Pacquiao fought for his accomplishments while Tiger swung a club and hopped into a cart. This disgusts me..
Manny Pacquiao was and is the better athlete in every sense of the word. And we are only debating the merits of their athletic accomplishments. We haven’t even gotten into personal lives and all of the scandals. The Philippine Sportswriter Association got it right when they voted Pacquiao athlete of the decade. It’s a shame that the rest of the world didn’t see it that way.
