This year's Best Fighter in the annual ESPY Award is presented to Pinoy pound-for-pound 8-division world boxing champ Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao.
Pacquiao bested other hardcore fellow nominees like future hall of famer Bernard Hopkins - the oldest boxer to win a major world title, middleweight king Sergio Martinez - who successfully defended his crown twice with impressive knockout victories, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
The ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) Award is presented by the American cable television network ESPN to recognize individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance.
Other winners at the 2011 ESPY Award are:
• Best Championship Performance - goalie Tim Thomas of the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.
• Best Female Athlete - reigning Olympic downhill champion and three-time overall World Cup ski champion Lindsey Vonn.
• Best Male College Athlete - BYU's Jimmer Fredette, who led the nation in scoring as a senior at 28.5 points per game.
• Recipient of the Jimmy V Award - NCAA wrestling champion Anthony Robles of Arizona State.
• Best Game - the Philadelphia Eagles' 38-31 victory over the New York Giants.
• Best Upset - the VCU men's basketball team.
• Best NFL Player - Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.
• Best MLB Player - pitcher Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies.
• Best Driver - five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.
• Best WNBA Player - Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury.
• Best Fighter - Manny Pacquiao who scored a unanimous decision victory against Antonio Margarito to win the WBC's 154-pound title, becoming boxing's first eight-division champion and by scoring a unanimous decision over Shane Mosley in May 2011.
• Best Male Golfer - U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy.
• Best Female Golfer - Cristie Kerr.
• Best Male Tennis Player - Rafael Nadal.
• Best Female Tennis Player - Serena Williams.
• Best Female College Athlete - Maya Moore of Connecticut.
• Best Male Action Sport Athlete - Shaun White.
• Best Female Action Sport Athlete - Stephanie Gilmore.
• Best Jockey - John Velasquez.
• Best Male Athlete with a Disability - Arizona State wrestler Anthony Robles.
• Best Female Athlete with a Disability - swimmer Mallory Weggemann.
• Best Bowler - Jason Belmonte.
• Best MLS Player - Landon Donovan.
• Best Track and Field Athlete - sprinter Tyson Gay.
• Best Comeback - former Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich.
• Castrol EDGE NFL Strongest Performance - Arian Foster of the Houston Texans.
• Capital One Cup - Stanford women's athletics and Florida men's athletics.
• est Sports Movie - "The Fighter".
The awarding ceremony will be held tonight, July 13, at the Nokia Theatre in California and will be hosted by American actor and comedian Seth Meyers.
