FILIPINO ring idol Manny Pacquiao continues to get recognition from the major sports and boxing authorities worldwide. The latest to pick Pacquiao as Fighter of the Year is the Sports Network.
In a story datelined Philadelphia, boxing columnist Julius Stecker named Pacquiao Fighter of the Year, posing the question, “What more can you want out of a fighter?”
He then answered all his own questions in favor of Pacquiao.
“Pacquiao has passion, guts, heart and most of all, he is exciting,” wrote Stecker, who added the Pacman cemented his claim as one of the top three fighters in the sport with two resounding victories over the legendary Erik Morales and another awesome win over the respected Oscar Larios.
The boxing columnist continued: “It is the sort of trifecta that most fighters dream about but seldom accomplish.”
Stecker noted that Pacquiao “not only triumphed, he also dominated almost every round in the process and if it wasn’t for a few anxious moments early in the second Morales fight and in the Larios fight, Pacquiao would have dominated every round against top-flight opponents.”
The well-known columnist concluded by stating that Pacquiao is the sort of fighter, who doesn’t need tune-ups, adding “he just needs legacy fights and if the 2006 trend continues, we may see more of those in 2007.”
Meantime, a poll conducted by HBO Boxing on which was the best fight of the year 2006, the Pacquiao-Morales Grand Finale or their rubber match continues to top the poll with 36 percent of the votes with Pacquiao-Morales II in second spot with 33 percent. The Oscar de la Hoya-Ricardo Mayorga battle garnered 20 percent while the Jermain Taylor-Winky Wright clash received 11 percent of the votes cast so far.
