Following the name of the champion(s): Indicates the number of times the competitor has held that title at that point.
[...]
Indicates a gap in the listing where title changes are not known.
<
Title was held or changed hands no later than this. In these cases, it is known that a competitor held the title at a certain time but not when he/she won it.
@
Order uncertain. Different titleholders may be known for the same year, for example, but it is not known who held the title before whom.
#
Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the competitor shown should be recognized as a true title holder. These listings are also italicized.
World Boxing Organization
World Welterweight Title (as of 2025-08-15)
* Bolded letters in the competitor's name, if any, indicate the surname/family name.
Genaro Léon
1989-05-06
Santa Ana, CA, USA
Defeats Danny Garcia; vacates in 89.
Manning Galloway
1989-12-15
Yabucoa, PR, USA
Defeats Al Hamza.
Gert Bo Jacobsen
1993-02-12
Randers, DEN
Vacates in 93.
Eammon Loughran
1993-10-16
Belfast, NIR, GBR
Defeats Lorenzo Smith.
José Luis López
1996-04-13
Liverpool, Merseyside, ENG, GBR
Vacates in 96.or 97.
Mihai Leu
1997-02-22
Hamburg, GER
Defeats Santiago Samaniego; vacates in 97 upon retirement.
Ahmed Kotiev
1997-02-22
Stuttgart, GER
Defeats Leonard Townsend.
Daniel Santos
2000-05-06
Neuss, GER
Vacates on 01-07-21 when a match against Antonio Margarito in Bayamón, PR, USA ends in a no-contest.
Antonio Margarito
2002-03-16
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Defeats Antonio Díaz.
Paul Williams
2007-07-14
Carson, CA, USA
Carlos Quintana
2008-02-09
Temecula, CA, USA
Paul Williams [2]
2008-06-07
Uncasville, CT, USA
Vacates in 08-11 to move up to the junior middleweight class.
Miguel Cotto
2009-02-21
New York, NY, USA
Manny Pacquiao
2011-11-12
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Timothy Bradley
2012-06-09
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Manny Pacquiao [2]
2014-04-12
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
2015-05-02
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Stripped of the title on 15-07-06 for failing to pay a sanctioning fee.
Timothy Bradley
2015-07-06
Interim champion since defeating Jessie Vargas on 15-06-27 in Carson, CA, USA; status promoted on 15-07-06; vacates on 16-02-09 to fight with Manny Pacquiao.
Jessie Vargas
2016-03-05
Washington, DC, USA
Defeats Sadam Ali.
Manny Pacquiao [3]
2016-11-05
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Jeff Horn
2017-07-02
Brisbane, AUS
Terence Crawford
2018-06-09
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Also wins WBC, WBA, and IBF world titles on 23-07-29 to become the undisputed champion; stripped of the IBF title on 23-11-09; named WBC Champion in recess on 24-05-27; vacates the WBO title on 24-08-12 and WBA title on 24-08-30 after winning WBA and interim WBO world junior middleweight titles on 24-08-03.
Brian Norman Jr.
2024-08-03
Interim champion since defeating Giovani Santillan on 24-05-18; status promoted.
