Sports

Pacquiao gets three BWAA nominations

World Boxing Association super welterweight titlist Manny Pacquiao gets nomination in three categories at the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) Annual Awards.

Pacquiao, who turned 41 on Dec. 17, is among candidates for the Joe Louis Fighter of the Decade, Sugar Ray Robinson Fighter of the Year and Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier Fight of the Year awards.

For the Fighter of the Decade, Pacquiao joined Mexican four-division champion Canelo Alvarez, Wladimir Klitschko, unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Andre Ward as candidates, according to a Manila Times report.

In the Fighter of the Year award, the other candidates are Alvarez, Naoya Inoue, Japanese International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association Super bantamweight champion; IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. and Josh Taylor, according to the report.

Pacquiao’s split decision win over previously unbeaten Keith Thurman last July 20 in Las Vegas was selected as among the candidates for the Fight of the Year award.

The other candidates are Gennadiy Golovkin-Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Inoue-Nonito Donaire, Andy Ruiz-Anthony Joshua I, Spence Jr.-Shawn Porter and Josh Taylor-Regis Prograis.

“I think the Senator should be the BWAA fight of the year because after being written off after the Jeff Horn fight, he roared back with three wins including the Thurman fight,” Manila Times quoted MP Promotion President Sean Gibbons as saying.

“Fight was amazing at 40-year-old to take on a young lion. In his prime 30-year-old and the Senator to outfight him and knock him down and almost out was amazing. No. 147 pounder in history at 40-year-old has had a win like that.”

The BWAA will reportedly be announcing all winners on January 17 and the 95th awarding ceremony will be held in June 2020.

Pacquiao (62-7-2 win-loss-draw record with 39 knockouts) was also BWAA Fighter of the Year winner in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Staff Report

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