Boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather's acclaim continues to soar in unprecedented fashion. Last night, he was crowned the 2012 EPSY winner for the Best Fighter category, making him a four-time champion of the coveted honor. The award, voted on by fans throughout the country, recognizes the fighter for his ring prowess and accomplishments, including his defeat of Miguel Cotto for the Super Welterweight World Championship on May 5 of this year.
The accolade is yet another indication of Mayweather's remarkably successful career as the seven-time world champion also reigns atop Forbes' highest paid athlete list, knocking Tiger Woods out of the top slot for the first time since 2001.
"The accolades Floyd receives for his hard work and dedication in the ring speak for themselves," said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. "He holds all of the pay-per-view records and is the highest paid athlete in sports today. Now he has another ESPY award to add to his long list of honors and recognitions. These are just more notches in his future Hall of Fame career."
With Mayweather at the helm of the 100 highest paid athletes, Forbes has assessed that "boxing is not dead" and states that "Mayweather has generated 9.6 million buys and $543 million in television revenue during his nine HBO PPV events." [Read the full article "Boxing Is Not Dead Yet"
In addition to accomplishing financial supremacy, Mayweather also dominated the world's top search engine Google as his name ruled sports searches during the month of May when Mayweather fought Cotto. The super fight accounted for three of the United States' top 10 trending sports-related queries on Google. Each of these queries trended higher than searches for any NBA player or team during the NBA playoffs.
Perhaps Mayweather's most crowning achievement is his role in instituting Olympic-style drug testing in boxing. He was the first fighter to require blood testing administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in order to face him in the ring. Mayweather is now seen as a trailblazer in the campaign to make the ring an even playing field. In the last few months alone, more than five boxers have tested positive for steroids who may not have been caught had it not been for the fighter's foresight and desire to clean up the sport, .
Above all else, Mayweather is grateful for his fans and supporters, without whom he would not have had the opportunity to reign supreme as the highest paid athlete list, win an ESPY or even pioneer drug testing in boxing. Mayweather sent a message to his fans via his Twitter account (@FloydMayweather) last night saying, "Thank you to all the fans who voted and helped me win at tonight's #ESPYs. Your continued support is appreciated."
Ellerbe continued. "Floyd has always recognized and thanked his fans for their support throughout his career. He knows that an athlete has to do his or her job to prepare their best and dedicate their lives to be great. But without the backing and enthusiasm of the fans, the victories would be bitter sweet. Floyd should be commended for his undeniable ability to draw attention to the sport of boxing, as well as his own career, as he has delivered amazing results each time he steps into the ring."
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