Pacquiao, Fil-Am gold medalist nominated for ESPN awards

Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao. Photo by Tracy Lee / Manny Pacquiao official Facebook page

MANILA — Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is set to receive a nomination for Best Fighter of the Year, while another Fil-Am paralympic racer also gets a nomination at ESPN’s Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) Awards.

Pacquiao will be contending with his co-boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and mixed martial artists Jon “Bones” Jones, Andre Ward and Ronda Rousey in the same category. 

Pacquiao deserves a nomination after he regained his WBO welterweight title from Timothy Bradley in a decisive rematch, according to ESPN.

“He also beat Brandon Rios for the vacant WBO International welterweight crown,” the American sports network said.

Meanwhile, Filipino-American Paralympics wheelchair racing champion Raymond Martin will also get a nomination for his five medals at the  IPC Athletics Championships last year.

Martin, who was the first man to record five gold medal wins in the said competition, was also chosen as Male Paralympic Athlete of the Year in 2013 by the United States Olympic Committee.

He also topped men’s T52 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m races and dominated the same events at the US Paralympics Track and Field National Championships in 2013.