USA Today, the prestigious newspaper with a widely read sports section, has bucked the odds and chosen pound-for-pound kingManny Pacquiao as “Fighter of the Year” over middleweight champion Sergio Martinez of Argentina.
USA Today noted that most boxing writers went with Martinez, who also had a great year, winning the middleweight title from Kelly Pavlik and then stunning the boxing world by knocking out tough Paul Williams with one punch in the second round in November.
But, the newspaper said “Martinez had to be concerned with getting ready for only two fights.”
It cited the fact that in contrast, Pacquiao was elected to Congress in May and, amid endless distractions, fought twice at Cowboys Stadium before close to 100,000 fans.
Pacquiao nearly shut out two of the toughest fighters around in Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito, giving up five inches and 17 pounds to Margarito.”
“For excelling while serving his people on two continents, Pacquiao is USA Today’s ‘Fighter of the Year’,” USA Today said in its tribute.
As it regularly happens when Pacquiao wins an award, celebrated trainer Freddie Roach bags one, too. USA Today named Roach its “Trainer of the Year.”
“The general consensus among boxing scribes was to go with Martinez’s trainer, Gabriel Sarmiento, who molded his 35-year-old guy into a fighting machine,” the newspaper said.
However, USA Today pointed out that Roach “is the busiest and best trainer in the world and has raised the quality of every fighter he’s handled, from Pacquiao to (Amir) Khan to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to Vanes Martirosyan and Jose Benavidez to cruiserweight brute Lateef Kayode.”
“All this while battling the devastating effects of Parkinson’s disease,” the newspaper said. “He was so seemingly omnipresent.”
