Pacquiao..Fighter Of The Decade Awardee

2010 Fighter of the Year, Fighter of the Decade, and WBO welterweight champion Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao (51-3-2) delivered an inspiring speech at the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) awards dinner on Friday, June 4, 2010.
In his acceptance speech, Pacquiao said:


Good evening everyone . . .
Poverty confronted my family; poverty challenged my youth . . .
I was pressured but was not crushed . . .
In my struggles, I combated poverty with boxing gloves . . .
I trusted God and dreamed big . . .
I learned from my mistakes . . .
At the start of the century,
I was convinced that I could excel in boxing . . .
Tonight, I overflow with joy and gratitude.
I am thankful that like [Muhammad] Ali and Joe Frazier
and other fighters,
I decided to get into boxing . . .
I decided to not give up; to never give up.
I decided to trust God. God formed my destiny . . .
He formed me from nothing into something.
He knows everything about me . . .
To my countrymen around the world, you are my strength . . .
All the sacrifices have been beneficial and rewarding . . .
We come from different backgrounds and races,
but we are all connected . . .
We all desire a sense of meaning, we all desire a sense of purpose.
We all desire to be good, and to leave a legacy.

I am Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao, and I am proud to be a Filipino . . .

We are all destined for greatness . . .
Greatness lies not in strength, but in the use of that strength . . .

Manny Pacquiao joined Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield as the only three-time recipients of the Sugar Ray Robinson Fighter of the Year Award.
In earning Fighter of the Decade awards, Pacquiao joined Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Roy Jones, Jr., as being considered as the best prize fighters in their respective decades.