Lightweight division
On June 28, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Pacquiao defeated David Díaz in lightweight division via ninth round knockout and won the WBC Lightweight World Title. With the victory, Pacquiao became the first and only Filipino and Asian to become a five-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in five different weight divisions, and also became the first Filipino fighter to ever win a world title at lightweight. During the fight, which Pacquiao dominated, Díaz was cut badly on his right eye in the fourth round. After the bout, Díaz acknowledged Pacquiao's superior hand speed, stating "It was his speed. It was all his speed. I could see the punches perfectly, but he was just too fast."
Bob Arum reported that the fight had made 12.5 million dollars earning Díaz his best payday of 850,000 dollars, whilst Pacquiao earned at least 3 million dollars. Official records revealed an attendance of 8,362 (out of a maximum capacity of 12,000).
Holding both the WBC World Super Featherweight and World Lightweight titles following the win, Pacquiao decided to vacate his super featherweight title in July 2008.
Welterweight division
On December 6, 2008, Pacquiao moved up to the welterweight division, in order to face the six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight called "The Dream Match". Presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, the bout was scheduled as a twelve round, non-title fight contested at the 147 pound welterweight limit. Although Pacquiao went into the fight widely recognized as the leading pound-for-pound boxer in the world, some boxing pundits had speculated that 147 pounds could be too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya. However, due to rehydration after the weigh in, De la Hoya came into the fight actually weighing less than Pacquiao, and close to 20 pounds under his usual fighting weight. Pacquiao dominated the fight, and after eight rounds De La Hoya's corner was forced to throw in the towel, awarding Pacquiao the win via technical knockout.
Pacquiao was ahead on all three judges' scorecards before the stoppage, with two judges scoring the fight at 80–71 and one scoring it at 79–72. Moreover, Pacquiao landed 224 out of 585 punches, whilst De La Hoya landed only 83 out of 402 punches. After the bout, trainer Freddie Roach stated "We knew we had him after the first round. He had no legs, he was hesitant and he was shot." The fight would be De La Hoya's last, as he announced his retirement from boxing shortly after.
Pacquiao received 15 to 30 million dollars (share of the pay-per-view), plus a guaranteed amount. Tickets reportedly sold out just hours after they went on sale. Moreover, the total gate revenue for the fight was said to be nearly 17 million dollars, making it the second largest gate revenue in boxing history.
Light Welterweight division
On May 2, 2009, Pacquiao fought at light welterweight or super lightweight division for the first time against Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight billed as "The Battle of the East and West". Pacquiao won the bout via knockout to claim the International Boxing Organization (IBO) Junior Welterweight and The Ring Junior Welterweight World Titles (as well as the lineal light welterweight title). In doing so, Pacquiao became the second man in boxing history to become a six-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in six different weight divisions and the first man ever to win lineal world titles in four different weight classes.
The fight was originally placed in jeopardy due to disputes with both camps over the fight purse money. Eventually, the money issue was settled and the fight went on as scheduled. HBO aired the contest.
Pacquiao started the fight strong, knocking down Hatton twice in the first round. A somewhat shaken Hatton beat the count, only to be saved by the bell seconds later. In the second round Hatton seemed to have recovered, as he stalked Pacquiao for most of the round. However, with less than ten seconds remaining in the second round, Hatton was knocked out cold by a sharp left hook, prompting the referee to award Pacquiao the win by knockout (at 2:59 of the round). The knockout won him the The Ring Magazine "Knockout of the Year" for 2009.
Return to Welterweight division
On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao defeated Miguel Cotto via technical knockout in the twelfth round, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight billed as "Firepower". Although the bout was sanctioned as a world title fight in the welterweight division, where the weight limit is 147 pounds, Cotto agreed to fight at a catchweight of 145 pounds.
Pacquiao dominated the fight, knocking Cotto down in round three and round four, before the referee stopped the fight at 0:55 of round twelve. With this victory, Pacquiao took the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Welterweight World Title and WBO Super Champion belts, to become the first seven-division world champion, the first fighter in boxing history to win world titles in seven different weight divisions. Pacquiao also won the first and special WBC Diamond Championship belt. This belt was created as an honorary championship exclusively to award the winner of a historic fight between two high-profile boxers. After the fight, promoter Bob Arum stated "Pacquiao is the greatest boxer I've ever seen, and I've seen them all, including Ali, Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard." Miguel Cotto said in a post fight interview: "Miguel Cotto comes to boxing to fight the biggest names, and Manny is one of the best boxers we have of all time." Cotto showed heart and fans regarded this as one of the year's best fights.
The fight generated 1.25 million buys and $70 million in domestic pay-per-view revenue, making it the most watched boxing event of 2009. Pacquiao earned around $22 million for his part in the fight, whilst Cotto earned around $12 million. Pacquiao–Cotto also generated a live gate of $8,847,550 from an official crowd of 15,930. On November 20, 2009, in a simple rites at the Quirino Grandstand, President Macapagal-Arroyo conferred Pacquiao the Order of Sikatuna with the rank of Datu (Grand Cross) with Gold distinction (Katangiang Ginto) which usually bestowed to foreign diplomats and heads of state. It was awarded to Pacquiao for winning his historical eight weight division world title.
Following the victory against Cotto, there was much public demand for a fight between the seven-division world champion Manny Pacquiao (the number 1 pound-for-pound boxer) and the five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (the number 2 and former number 1 pound-for-pound boxer). Pacquiao reportedly agreed to fight Mayweather on March 13, 2010, for a split of $50 million up front. And it was later agreed that the venue for the fight would be the MGM Grand Las Vegas. However, the bout was put in jeopardy due to disagreements about Olympic-style drug testing. The Mayweather camp wanted random blood testing by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, whereas Pacquiao refused to have any blood testing within 30 days from the fight, because he thought it would weaken him, but he was willing to have blood taken from him before the 30-day window as well as immediately after the fight. Freddie Roach, on the other hand, commented that he would not allow blood to be taken from Pacquiao one week before the fight. In an attempt to resolve their differences, the two camps went through a process of mediation before a retired judge. After the mediation process Mayweather agreed to a 14-day no blood testing window. However, Pacquiao refused and instead only agreed to a 24-day no blood testing window. Consequently, on January 7, 2010, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum declared that the fight was officially off.
Because of Pacquiao's reluctance to submit to random blood testing to the extent requested by Mayweather, and despite lack of evidence, the Mayweather camp repeated their suggestion that Pacquiao was using banned substances, which resulted in Pacquiao filing a lawsuit for defamation, seeking damages in excess of 75,000 dollars. The lawsuit cited accusations made by Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., Roger Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer.
After negotiations for the Mayweather fight fell through, other boxers were considered to replace Mayweather as Pacquiao's next opponent, including former light welterweight champion Paul Malignaggi, and WBA World Super Welterweight champion Yuri Foreman. However, Pacquiao chose to fight former IBF Welterweight World Champion Joshua Clottey instead.
On March 13, 2010, at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Pacquiao defeated Clottey via unanimous decision to retain his WBO Welterweight World Title belt. The judges scored the fight 120–108, 119–109 and 119–109, all in favor of Pacquiao. During the fight, Pacquiao threw a total of 1231 punches (a career high), but landed just 246, as most were blocked by Clottey's tight defense. On the other hand, Clottey threw a total of 399 punches, landing 108.
The fight was rewarded with a paid crowd of 36,371 and a gate of $6,359,985, according to post-fight tax reports filed with Texas boxing regulators. Counting complimentary tickets delivered to sponsors, media outlets and others, the Dallas fight attracted 41,843, well short of the 50,994 that was previously announced, but still an epic number for boxing. In addition, the bout drew 700,000 pay-per-view buys and earned $35.3 million in domestic revenue.
Manny Pacquiao was named as the Fighter of the Decade for years 2000–2009 by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). This award was presented by legendary boxer Joe Frazier, who was also a recipient of the award himself back in 1978 for defeating Muhammad Ali. Aside from this prestigious recognition, he was also named as the Sugar Ray Robinson Fighter of the Year for 2009, having received the same honor in 2006 and 2008. The awards ceremony was held at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on June 4, 2010.
After his victory over Clottey, Pacquiao was expected to return to boxing in late 2010 with a possible matchup against Floyd Mayweather Jr. It was later reported that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Top Rank Chief Bob Arum worked out a '"Super Fight" between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. However, complications arose when Mayweather requested Pacquiao undergo random blood and urine testing up until the fight day. Pacquiao responded that he would agree to undergo blood and urine testing up until 14 days before the fight (as requested by Mayweather in the first round of negotiations), stating that giving blood too close to the fight day would weaken him. On May 13, 2010, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum announced that he had penciled in November 13, 2010 as the date of Manny Pacquiao's next fight, possibly against Mayweather. However, the stumbling block over demands that Pacquiao submit to Olympic level random drug testing put the fight in jeopardy.
On June 12, 2010, the President of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, stated during an interview with a Spanish network that the deal for the fight was very close and the negotiation process has been very difficult. On June 30, 2010, Arum announced that the management of both sides had agreed to terms, that all points had been settled (including Pacquiao agreeing to submit to both blood and urine testing) and only the signature of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. was needed to seal the deal that could have earned both fighters at least $40 million each. Mayweather was then given a two-week deadline for the fight contract to be signed. Arum also announced that Pacquiao accepted the terms of the random drug testing, blood and urine, leading up to the fight.
On July 15, 2010, Bob Arum announced that Pacquiao's camp would give Mayweather until Friday midnight to sign the fight. The next day the Top Rank website embedded a countdown clock on their website with the heading "Money" Time: Mayweather's Decision. On July 17, 2010, Arum announced that there was no word from Mayweather's camp and the deal for a November 13, 2010 fight with Mayweather Jr. was not reached.
On July 19, 2010, Leonard Ellerbe, one of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s closest advisers, denied that negotiations for a super fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao had ever taken place. Ellerbe stated that Bob Arum was not telling the truth. Bob Arum responded, questioning that if there was no negotiation, then who imposed the gag order (referring to a gag order about the negotiation allegedly imposed on both camps) and who could there be a gag order from if there were no negotiations. He also criticized Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer for denying that negotiations took place, when De La Hoya himself had previously stated that they were "very, very close in finalizing the contracts". Arum revealed that HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg acted as the mediator between Mayweather’s handlers and those of Pacquiao’s from Top Rank Promotions. On July 26, 2010, Ross Greenburg said in a statement that he has been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2, 2010, carefully trying to put the fight together and he did in fact act as a go-between in negotiations with the two sides, but they were unable to come to an agreement. Floyd Mayweather Jr., after the second negotiation had been officially declared off, told the Associated Press that he had fought sixty days ago and that he was not interested in rushing into anything and was not really thinking about boxing at the moment.
Light Middleweight division
On July 23, 2010, Bob Arum announced that Pacquiao would fight Antonio Margarito on November 13, 2010. The fight for the vacant WBC Super Welterweight World Title gave Pacquiao the chance to win a world title in his eighth weight class, the light middleweight or super welterweight division. A catchweight of 150 pounds was established for the fight although the weight limit for the light middleweight division is 154 pounds. During the pre-fight, Pacquiao weighed in at a low 144.6 pounds, while Margarito weighed in at the limit of 150 pounds. Pacquiao said he was pleased with his weight because he loses too much speed when he gains pounds. During the fight itself, Pacquiao weighed 148 lbs, 17 pounds lighter than Margarito's 165.
Prior to the fight, Pacquiao's team demanded to the Texas officials to test Margarito for banned substances after a weight loss supplement, reportedly Hydroxycut, was found in his locker. It was stated that the officials would undergo testing for both boxers after the fight. In the fight, Pacquiao defeated Margarito via unanimous decision, using his superior handspeed and movement to win his 8th world title in as many divisions. In the penultimate round, Pacquiao implored referee Laurence Cole several times to stop the fight as Margarito had a swollen face and a large cut beneath the right eye, but the referee let the fight continue. Margarito had to be taken directly to the hospital after the fight, where it was discovered his orbital bone had been fractured; he had to undergo surgery.
