US Media Out to Down Pacquiao's Bid for Another FOTD Award?
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 15 Aug 2019
Senator Manny Pacquiao has been installed the strongest candidate for the "Fighter of the Decade" for his comparatively better activity, longevity and more importantly ring resume during the ten year period (2010-2019) despite his advancing age.
In fact, in the popular Ring Magazine, most boxing netizens including from Europe have expressed their preference and agreement of the Filipino fighting legislator and legend as the back to back FOTD awardee over a field that included his retired archrival Floyd Mayweather Jr., and another retired unbeaten American fighter Andre Ward, among others.
Pacquiao with his six world division title run and three Fighter of the Year awards in 2006, 2008 and 2009 was the hands down best fighter or the previous decade as declared by the Boxing Writers Association of America. He bested Mayweather who had his own title runs in five weight classes but retired in 2007 only to return belatedly in 2009.
Significantly, Pacquiao is also in the running for the Fighter of the Year award for 2019 especially with his stirring victory over erstwhile undefeated American Keith 'One Time' Thurman for the WBA welterweight super title which will boost his FOTD bid.
But it seems some segments of the American boxing media are out to frustrate Manny's bid for another FOTY and FOTD awards.
In his recent Monday Mailbag column where my letter about Pacquiao's strong bid for FOTY and FOTD awards was published and sparked a lively debate among netizens mostly in favor of Manny, Ring Magazine editor in chief Douglass Fischer while acknowledging Pacquiao's worth, wrote that most BWAA members are apt to vote either Floyd or Ward.
Then from out of the blue, the Boxrec.com, a US boxing monitoring, evaluating and rating firm, came out with its greatest boxers ever list that has Floyd Mayweather, Jr. clearly on top miles away from the likes of Pacquiao who came second, Carlos Monzon, third and would you believe Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson who ranked only fourth and sixth, respectively!
What is more questionable is the fact that Pacquiao is the only active fighter in the list!
It is very obliviously an attempt, ill-thought as it was, to elevate the already retired Floyd at the expense of the still active Manny.
The only immediate objective of these moves coming from some segment of the US media is to condition the minds especially of the American boxing public that Floyd is more superior to Manny thereby making it more palatable for the BWAA to name Floyd as the Fighter of the Decade over Pacquiao despite Manny's overall better performance this decade.
But some people also view this as the resurrection of the rivalry between the two which could lead to the long sought after Floyd vs Manny 2 next year.
Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Photo: Pacquiao defeats Thurman last July bolstering his chances of being named 'Fighter of the Decade' once again.
The author Teodoro Medina?Reynoso?is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines.?? He can be reached at?teddyreynoso@yahoo.com?and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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