The inaugural Diamond Belt was awarded on November 14, 2009 to Manny Pacquiao who won his seventh world title ( in seven different divisions ) via 12th round technical knockout over Miguel Ángel Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Due to Mosley's defeat, Pacquiao looked at a November 12, 2011 match-up, a third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, which he won.

His professional debut was a four-round bout against Edmund " Enting " Ignacio, on January 22, 1995, which Pacquiao won via decision, becoming an instant star of the program.

Pacquiao stepped into the fight as a late replacement on two weeks ' notice but won the fight by technical knockout to win the title, his second major boxing world title.

Pacquiao, who was fighting at featherweight for the first time, brought his power with him and defeated Barrera via technical knockout in the eleventh round, the only knockout loss in Barrera's career, and won the Lineal & The Ring Featherweight Championship, making him the first Filipino and Asian to become a three-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in three different weight divisions.

Pacquiao won the fight via unanimous decision, knocking down Larios two times in the 12-round bout at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines.

Among those to have been recognized by the WBC as world champions were the Undefeated Rocky Marciano ( 49-0 ), Roy Jones, Jr., Wilfred Benítez, Wilfredo Gómez, Julio César Chávez, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson, Salvador Sánchez, Héctor Camacho, Marvin Hagler, Carlos Monzón, Roberto Durán, Juan Laporte, Félix Trinidad, Edwin Rosario, Bernard Hopkins, Alexis Argüello, Nigel Benn, Lennox Lewis, Vitali Klitschko, Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The WBO was made popular by boxers such as Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrera, Ronald " Winky " Wright, Naseem Hamed, Verno Phillips, Michael Carbajal, Johnny Tapia, Harry Simon, Jermain Taylor, Nigel Benn, Paul " Silky " Jones, Gerald McClellan, Joe Calzaghe, Steve Collins, Daniel Santos, Michael Moorer, Dariusz Michalczewski, Chris Eubank, Riddick Bowe, Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko, Chris Byrd and Tommy Morrison in the 1990s.

Pacquiao managed to drop Hernandez in the 2nd round, but Hernandez fought back consistently starting round 3 to close the fight, or even take the points by 10th.

On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao defeated Cotto by TKO at 55 seconds into the 12th round, dethroning Cotto as the WBO Welterweight Champion.

On March 19, 2005, as a betting underdog, Morales defeated then three-division world champion and No. 5 pound-for-pound, Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, by a unanimous decision.

On February 18, 2009, Pacquiao was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities ( Honoris Causa ) by Southwestern University ( SWU ) at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Lahug, Cebu City in recognition of his boxing achievements and humanitarian work.

Pacquiao captured the Lineal and WBC Flyweight titles ( his first major boxing world title ) over Chatchai Sasakul by way of knockout in the eighth round.

The following day, the members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines presented the House Resolution No. 765, authored by the then House Speaker Jose De Venecia and Bukidnon Representative Juan Miguel Zubiri, which honored Pacquiao the Congressional Medal of Achievement for his exceptional achievements.

In the first round, Márquez was caught cold, as he was knocked down three times by Pacquiao.

Witnessed by a near-record crowd of 18, 276, the match saw Pacquiao defeat Morales via a third-round knockout at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas .< ref >

* November 18 Manny Pacquiao wins by technical knockout in his third and rubber match against Erik Morales

Morales had gone on to win the WBC title in that division after defeating Jesús Chávez and Barrera had lost recognition as world boxing champion after being defeated by Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, so he moved up to the Super Featherweight divisionThe fight took place on November 27, 2004 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao defeated Hatton in the second round by a KO victory after knocking Hatton down twice in the first round.

However, Hatton lost only his second fight under Mayweather Sr with a second round knockout by boxing legend Manny Pacquiao.

A proposed March, 2010 fight between Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fell by the wayside in January, 2010 when the camps representing both fighters could not agree on a timeline for drug testing for the fight.

A more stringent drug test was sought out by Mayweather Jr .' s representatives due to inadequacies in the current testing standards and a suspicion that Pacquiao might be utilizing banned performance enhancers in his training regimen.

Mayweather Sr. had been very vocal about his theory that Manny Pacquiao's impressive displays as a welterweight were aided by performance enhancing drugs for several months prior to the negotiation for a fight between his son and Pacquiao.

On March 21, 2011, U. S. District Judge Larry Hicks said Pacquiao has sufficient evidence to continue his lawsuit that alleges Floyd Sr., Jr., and Roger acted with malice by accusing the Filipino boxer, and as of December 2011 Jr had been deposed and the case was continuing seeking damages of $ 10 million.

She is set to be awarded by the ABS-CBN's show Pipol with the " 2005 Pipol of the Year " award after defeating the co-nominee Manny Pacquiao under the " Sports and Entertainment " Category.

He appeared in " Pacquiao: The Movie ", a true to life story of World Boxing Council lightweigt champion Manny Pacquiao, as the live TV commentator during Pacquiao's ( played by Filipino actor Jericho Rosales fights in the movie.

Pacquiao was ahead on all three judges ' scorecards before the stoppage, with two judges scoring the fight 80 – 71 and the other judge scoring it at 79 – 72.

Even before Pacquiao defeated Ricky Hatton, Bob Arum, who represents both Cotto and Pacquiao, stated that he was interested in this matchup.

He worked with Manny Pacquiao for a week before his fight with Ricky Hatton and worked with British lightweight Amir Khan for his fight against Marco Antonio Barrera but was asked to leave shortly after joining due to personality conflicts with both fighters

On January 22, 2006, Morales fought Pacquiao in a rematch from their bout ten months before and was defeated in ten rounds.

On November 18, 2006, Manny Pacquiao chose Geronimo to sing Lupang Hinirang, the Philippine national anthem, before his match against Mexico's Erik Morales at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao knocked down Morales twice in the final seconds of round ten and the fight was stopped.

Pacquiao knocked out Chockvivat in the fifth round and took the OPBF Flyweight title.

One of the judges ( who scored the bout 113 – 113 ) later admitted to making an error on the scorecards, having scored the first round as 10 – 7 in favor of Pacquiao instead of the standard 10 – 6 for a three-knockdown round.

If he had scored the round 10 – 6 for Pacquiao ( as the other two judges did ), the result would have been a split decision in favor of Pacquiao.

In this fight, Pacquiao sustained a cut over his right eye from an accidental clash of heads in the fifth round.

* December 6 – Manny Pacquiao defeats Oscar De La Hoya after eight rounds in a fight billed as " The Dream Match " in Las Vegas, when De La Hoya couldn't answer the bell for the ninth round.

Immediately after this fight, negotiations began to pursue a contest against Manny Pacquiao.

* The Dream Match-The Welterweight match between Manny Pacquiao ( moving up 2 weight classes ) against Oscar De La Hoya ( moving down 1 weight class ).

Some of Arum's superstars from the 1990s include former world flyweight champion Michael Carbajal and six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya and current boxing superstars includes eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and three-division world champion Erik Morales.

Some of the boxers featured on the magazine covers have included Andrew Golota, Salvador Sánchez, Jack Dempsey, Max Schmeling, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jake LaMotta, Rocky Marciano, Willie Pep, Muhammad Ali, Alexis Argüello, Wilfred Benítez, Wilfredo Gómez, Roberto Durán, Larry Holmes, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bud Taylor, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Thomas Hearns, Roy Jones Jr., Bernard Hopkins, Julio César Chávez, Félix Trinidad, Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Mauro Mina, and Ricardo Mayorga.

De La Hoya faced Manny Pacquiao ( 47 – 3 – 2 ) on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Although Manny Pacquiao went into the fight recognized as the leading pound for pound boxer in the world, some pundits speculated that 147 pounds could have been too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya.

However, though Pacquiao weighed and De La Hoya at the official weigh-in on Friday, De La Hoya entered the ring at 147 pounds to Pacquiao's.

" During the first episode of the HBO 24 / 7 Pacquiao – Hatton series, Roach had said he saw IV marks on De La Hoya's arm, pointing out that he needed to be rehydrated surgically as a last resort.

Notable lightweight boxers include Alexis Argüello, Henry Armstrong, Ken Buchanan, Héctor Camacho, Tony Canzoneri, Pedro Carrasco, Joel Casamayor, Julio César Chávez, Diego Corrales, Al " Bummy " Davis, Oscar De La Hoya, Roberto Durán, Artur Grigorian, Joe Gans, Miguel Ángel González, Benny Leonard, Ray Mancini, Juan Manuel Márquez, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Sugar Shane Mosley, Carlos Ortiz, Manny Pacquiao, Edwin Valero, Pernell Whitaker, and Ike Williams.

LA18 also produced a series of documentaries on the Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao entitled " Kababayan LA-Manny Pacquiao Specials " following the boxer in his build up to his fights with Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.

Notable fighters who have fought as welterweights include Barney Ross, Jackie Fields, Johar Abu Lashin, Ted " Kid " Lewis, Jimmy McLarnin, Jack Britton, Henry Armstrong, Fritzie Zivic, Sugar Ray Robinson, Kid Gavilan, Carmen Basilio, Emile Griffith, José Nápoles, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Durán, Julio César Chávez, Pernell Whitaker, Félix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya, Ike Quartey, Shane Mosley, Vernon Forrest, Zab Judah, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Ricky Hatton, Micky Ward, Arturo Gatti, Miguel Cotto, Victor Ortiz, and Manny Pacquiao.

As of December 2011 the MGM Grand Garden Arena has held twenty UFC events starting with ( UFC 34, and most recently UFC 148 ), as well as numerous professional boxing superfights including that of Mike Tyson, Julio César Chávez, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

Popular fighters to have held championships in this division were Nino Benvenuti, Manny Pacquiao, Wilfred Benítez, Roy Jones, Jr., Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Mike McCallum, Julian Jackson, Roberto Durán, Terry Norris, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Winky Wright.