Voting for the 2020 WBN Fighter of the Year has already surpassed last year’s tally after boxing legend Manny Pacquiao took the annual award.
In 2019, after defeating Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman in a standout twelve months, the ‘Pacman’ won by a landslide following a record 19,620 ballots cast.
MANNY PACQUIAO
Firstly, Pacquiao collected 16,890 votes or 86.14 percent as the Filipino Senator claimed the accolade.
For 2020, the number of votes is approaching 25,000, with nine days remaining until an eventual winner.
At present, Teofimo Lopez leads the way with 29% (almost 7,000 votes). Canelo Alvarez is second ahead and seemingly the only real challenge to the lightweight king.
Gervonta Davis and Errol Spence are third and four, respectively. Jermell Charlo and Roman Gonzalez make up the final two places.
The nominees:
PLEASE NOTE: Tyson Fury was left out of voting after consultation with promoter Frank Warren. Fury won the Editor’s Choice Fighter of the Year nod.
TEOFIMO LOPEZ
Firstly, the current undisputed lightweight champion, Teofimo Lopez, enjoyed a breakout year in the pound-for-pound rankings after defeating Vasyl Lomachenko.
Lopez is already being linked to huge fights at 135 against Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Gervonta Davis in 2021.
ERROL SPENCE JR
The unified welterweight ruler, Errol Spence, defeated Danny Garcia after recovering from a life-threatening car accident in late 2019.
Therefore, Spence answered questions on whether he was fully recovered unequivocally in November.
ROMAN GONZALEZ
A former pound-for-pound number one, Roman Gonzalez, was written off when losing versus Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
Dusting himself down, ‘Chocolatito’ returned fire. He’s now a world champion again and aiming to break back into the top ten with a victory over Juan Estrada in 2021.
JERMELL CHARLO
Now a three-belt champion at 154 pounds, Jermell Charlo is another fighter who had to come back from a setback.
Charlo added two more championships to his haul when defeating Jeison Rosario earlier this year in sharing a Pay Per View with his brother Jermall.
CANELO ALVAREZ
Cementing his place as the best fighter on the planet in December, Canelo Alvarez has the best resume.
He commands the most money and certainly gets the highest ratings. Canelo became a four-weight world champion when dominating Callum Smith in Texas to win yet another lineal title.
GERVONTA DAVIS
Making his Pay Per View debut in 2020, Gervonta Davis defeated Leo Santa Cruz in a breakout performance for the Floyd Mayweather protege.
Next year promises to be even more significant for Davis should he land a possible two-fight saga with fellow-nominee Teofimo Lopez.
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