The origin of the "pound for pound” tag

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From Wikipedia.

Origin of the term

It is often said to have been created to describe world Welterweight and Middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson, the most accomplished fighter of the modern era, by supporters who realized that while he could beat anyone in his own class, as a Middleweight he would not be able to beat a top Heavyweight. Hence, Robinson was called the pound-for-pound best without being expected to beat much larger fighters, under the belief that he as a Middleweight was still a better quality fighter than any fighter fighting at heavier or lighter weights than him.

However, this creation myth is in fact inaccurate, as at least one fighter, junior welterweight great Tony Canzoneri, had the 'pound for pound' label attached to him before Robinson even turned pro.

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Application

Judging the best fighter in the world, pound for pound, is subjective. Some people place most weight on 'quality of opposition', or take into account factors such as how exciting the fighter is, or how famous he is, whereas others simply try to determine who would beat who if all boxers were the same size. The following paragraph will concentrate on the last definition.

Pernell Whitaker, an Olympic gold medalist who won pro titles from 130-154 pounds, adopted the term to describe himself, and gained widespread recognition as the pound for pound best after drawing with the renowned Julio Cesar Chavez in 1993 in a fight most observers believed Whitaker won clearly. After Whitaker, four-weight champion Roy Jones Jr. took over, and was recognized as the best fighter in the world for the better part of a decade.

There were other claimants to the 'pound for pound' title during the Jones era, such as Oscar de la Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather Jr and Bernard Hopkins, but each of these based their claims on 'quality of opposition'; few seriously suggested that any of them was a better fighter than Jones.

After an aging Jones lost to Antonio Tarver, the title passed on to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

While some take this pound-for-pound title seriously, others feel it is a bad rating system and has no real relevance. They feel that it is impossible to say what fighter at what weight is better than what other fighter at another weight. Others would say that it is valid, and that it is possible to say that a fighter fighting at one weight is better than a fighter at a different weight.