Manny Pacquiao, who successfully defended his WBO title twice this year, is

Manny Pacquiao, who successfully defended his WBO title twice this year, is one of 12 men nominated for the United States Sports Academy’s 2011 Male Athlete of the Year. The 27th annual award, which also recognizes a Female athlete, is done in conjunction with USA Today and NBC Sports. Worldwide online voting begins Dec. 1 and runs through midnight Dec.24. The winner will be announced on Christmas Day on Dec. 25.

To vote for Manny Pacquiao, please visit – http://ussa.edu/ballots/athlete-of-the-year#

In 2010, votes were received at a rate of 12 per second at one point and hundreds of thousands of sports fans from across the world participated. Last year’s Male Athlete of the Year was Spain’s star soccer player David Villa and the Female Athlete of the Year was South Korea’s No. 1 figure skater Yuna Kim.