By Dave Lahr: Manny Pacquiao, with the help of his legions of fans. was able to beat out WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez for Fighter of the Year for 2010 in the Ring Fan Poll. The final results were Pacquiao 71%, Martinez 24%. Juan Manuel Lopez 2%, Fernando Montiel 2% and Giovanii Segura 1%. It’s sad that all Pacquiao had to do to win the poll was beat Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito, both Top Rank fighters that share the same stable as Pacquiao.

Clottey, a one-time IBF welterweight champion with a tendency to throw few punches and just cover, did little more than cover up all night long in his fight with Pacquiao. It was hardly a fight, and shocking that Clottey didn’t put more of an effort into winning the fight. To get the honor of fighting of Pacquiao, Clottey lost his fight prior the Pacquiao bout to Miguel Cotto. And in Pacquiao’s bout against Margarito, Pacquiao was getting a fighter that had been recently destroyed by 38-year-old Shane Mosley, and struggled against an obscure fighter by the name of Roberto Garcia.

In contrast to the wins that Pacquiao chalked up to win the poll, Martinez beat WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, the fighter that many boxing fans previously considered to be the best fighter in the middleweight division. Martinez tore Pavlik apart in the later rounds of the fight and left Pavlik a bloody mess in a 12 round decision. In Martinez’s last fight, he stopped Paul Williams in a 2nd round knockout. I don’t know about you, but I say the wins over Pavlik and Williams were far more impressive than Pacquiao’s victories over Clottey and Margarito. There’s no comparison, really.