Pacquiao is sole boxer, Pinoy on ‘Most Influential Athletes’ list

MANILA, Philippines – There’s one boxer on Forbes’ ‘America’s Most Influential Athletes’ list and it isn’t Floyd Mayweather Jr.

World boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is 4th on the list of 10 compiled by the magazine, that ranks active professional athletes on their likeability and whether or not they are influential.

Not only is Pacquiao the only boxer on the list, he is also the only non-American.

This is the first year the Filipino fighter made the list, with a 20% influential score and 59% on likeability — factors that are important to marketers.

Unurprisingly, Pacquiao is an ambassador of several huge, global brands including Nike, Technomarine and Hennessy, not to mention a handful of other local products in the Philippines.

“Likeable boxing champ is a king among the Philippine population,” explained Forbes on Pacquiao, adding that his contrast with boxing “bad guy” Mayweather doesn’t hurt.

Pacquiao trails race car driver and 5-time NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson who tops the list for the 2nd year in the row, and American football players Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning respectively.

Rounding off the 10 behind Pacquiao in order are NFL stars Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, another racer Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2 more NFLers Drew Brees and Eli Manning, and finally NBA overnight sensation Jeremy Lin — who like Pacquiao, is a newcomer on the list.

To get the results, 1,000 adults were polled on who they thought was the most influential athlete, then asked to rate their likeability and awareness levels.

Of the list, 6 of the 10 are American football players, with NFL games enjoying a viewership of up to 30 million during playoff games. – Rappler.com

Click on the links below for more on Manny Pacquiao.

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• Top 10 boxing tricks of Manny Pacquiao
• Anne Curtis, Manny Pacquiao want you to ‘call them maybe’