Pacquiao bested fellow nominees in the Best Fighter category 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, and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
This is the second ESPY trophy for Pacquiao; he first won the award in 2009.
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, boxing’s first and only eight-division champion.
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.
Best Sports Movie - “The Fighter”.
The awarding ceremony was held last July 13 at the Nokia Theatre in California.
