Manny Pacquiao enjoyed a fantastic year in 2019, now capped off by the Filipino legend claiming the WBN Fighter of the Year trophy.
At 40 years old, Pacquiao becomes the oldest ever recipient of the Award, previously held by the likes of Gennadiy Golovkin, Vasyl Lomachenko and more recently Tyson Fury.
Gaining a record number of votes by some margin, Pacquiao took 86.14% of a massive ballot total of 19620.
Canelo Alvarez, an early leader, took second place. The Mexican polled just 6% on 1222. Naoya Inoue was third on 3.5% (689).
Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Errol Spence Jr. and Juan Estrada were never really in the running.
It’s some going by the ‘Pacman’. Yet another indication of the loyal fanbase the eight-weight champion possesses.
Missing out on Fighter of the Decade, Pacquiao more than makes up for it by taking the annum’s best honor.
2019
Pacquiao’s year began with a bang as the Senator defeated Adrien Broner in dominant fashion. This victory came on the back of the WBA ‘regular’ strap being ripped away from Lucas Matthysse the previous summer.
Before the win, Pacquiao had taken a year off to get over the injustice of Jeff Horn being handed a shocking decision in his home country of Australia. He came back with a vengeance.
Following Broner, reports began to surface of a possible rematch with Floyd Mayweather. As the ‘Money Man’ dallied, Pacquiao agreed to face Keith Thurman in a Las Vegas.
It was bill as a showdown for the ages. And so it proved to be.
MGM GRAND
Dropping Thurman in the opening round, Pacquiao did more than enough to take the spoils in a ding-dong battle. The MGM Grand crowd were fired up from the first bell as Pacquiao rolled back the years.
Now in possession of the WBA ‘Super’ title thanks to dethroning Thurman, Pacquiao is once again linked to a second offering with Mayweather. It could be worth eight figures.
Who knows whether it will come to fruition in the coming months?
Expected to return in the summer, Pacquiao will no doubt be aiming to face another of the top guys at 147 as he continues his role alongside Mayweather Promotions.
