Another award is in the bag for Filipino boxing icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. This time, its for the prestigious 2009 ESPY Awards Best Fighter category. The ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) Awards AKA ESPYs is an annual sports event created by TV network ESPN honoring various individuals and teams for their achievements.

The Best Fighter category award is presented to the best professional boxer or mixed martial arts fighter, irrespective of nationality or weight class. Pacquiao got the nod for winning against Oscar dela Hoya and Ricky Hatton and becoming only the 2nd six-division world champion (after dela Hoya). He defeated the other nominees: boxer Shane Mosley and MMA fighters Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva in the online voting at the ESPN web site.

Pacquiao’s 2nd-round KO over Hatton is also nominated for the Best Play Award. The award is presented to the single play or performance, irrespective of sport contested or gender of participating sportsperson, adjudged to be the most remarkable, significant, or impressive. However,  it lost out to Roethlisberger to Holmes’ Super Bowl winning touchdown (professional football).

Unlike when Manny received his 2008 Fighter of the Year Award given by the Boxing Writers Association of America, he was absent during the 17th ESPY Awards ceremony held Wednesday night at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California hosted by Samuel L. Jackson.

The show will be televised on ESPN and ESPN HD on Sunday, July 19 starting at 9 PM Eastern Time (Monday here in the Philippines).

As of the latest tally, here are Manny Pacquiao’s accolades for the year:

Boxing Writers Association of America 2008 Fighter of the Year

22nd on Time Magazine’s Top  100 Most Influential People List

57th on Forbes’ Celebrity 100 List

6th on Forbes’ Highest Paid Athlete List

What might be the next award for Pacman?

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Tags: ESPN, filipino, manny pacquiao, pacman